Saddam Hussein's No 2 arrested in Iraq

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s vice-president, Ezzat al-Douri, has been arrested, according to Iraqi Defence Ministry sources. Iraqi special forces units arrested fugitive al-Douri in desert regions near Dour, close to borders between Tikrit and Saladin provinces, around 100 kilometres north of Baghdad, sources told Arabstoday on Friday. Arabstoday could not find any other source to confirm reports. Al-Douri is Iraq’s most prominent Ba’ath Party leader still alive after Saddam was deposed by a US-led invasion in 2003. Media reports on Thursday suggested Iraqi troops were closing in on the former Ba’ath deputy, close to Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit.