Lack of safety and power worries Iraqis more than fate of Saddam's sons

Iraqis in Baghdad last night expressed undisguised delight at the news that Saddam Hussein's two sons were dead.

"I'm very happy to hear it. Uday had a very bad reputation for the way he treated women," said Umm Merna, a housewife carrying her five-year-old daughter in a suburban street as the sun began to set.

"I'm only sorry that they died so easily," said Ali Hamid, 30, who used to own a book shop. "After all their activities, they ought to be put on trial. So should their father."

Few Iraqis ever saw the three men, except on endless pictures on state television. They lived a shadowy public life, fearful of assassination.

One man who said last night he had caught a glimpse of Uday Hussein was Ahmed Heider, whose family owns a supermarket and a shop selling CDs.

"I saw him at the races on New Year's Eve last year," he said. But he was unsure whether to believe the news as it began to filter out. "Unless I see it with my own eyes, I'll have to hold back."

A few Iraqis took the news in their stride, still more anxious about the present chaos rather than the fate of men who were considered to have lost power for good.

"It doesn't make any difference to me," one said. "It isn't important whether they have been killed or not. The main thing is the lack of security and electricity, and all these problems with infrastructure."

US officials have become particularly keen to capture Saddam and his sons since the attacks on US troops intensified recently. They argued that many Iraqis were reluctant to cooperate with US troops for fear that the family might return to power and take revenge.

Few Iraqis interviewed last night said they had had such fears.

"Saddam Hussein is still alive but I don't think they can ever come back," said Saad Mohammed, a self-employed businessman.

It was not clear last night whether the US special forces who carried out the raid on the house in Mosul had been tipped off by neighbours or by earlier intelligence reports.

Troops arrested two top former Ba'athists in Mosul on July 11. Anwar al-Asaw and Bashir Ahmed Thanun were from the pro-Saddam Dulaymi tribe. The two men were being detained at a US base in Mosul and may have given vital information that Saddam's sons were in the area.

The house targeted by the special forces belonged to a wealthy tribal sheikh who is related to Saddam.

Mosul's Arabs, who form about 70% of the city's population, are largely Sunni, the group which has been behind most of the attacks against US forces.

But the town has been much quieter than Baghdad and US troops this weekend were still going round in their vehicles looking relatively relaxed. They did not carry their automatic rifles cocked and pointing out of the sides of their Humvees as they do in such areas as Ramadi, Falluja, and Tikrit.

But there were signs of increasing anti-US activity in the area. Two Americans from the 101st Airborne Division were killed on Sunday by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire at Tal Afar, about fifty miles west of Mosul. Another soldier was wounded in the attack.

Unknown assailants a month ago also fired a mortar at the International Organisation of Migration, which is affiliated to the United Nations.