Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction:

“A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

‘I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced,’ Abou Rabeh said.

‘We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed,’ he said.

He said Saddam himself fired at them with a gun from the window of a room on the second floor. Then they shouted at him in Arabic: ‘You have to surrender. … There is no point in resisting.’

‘Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam’s capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well,’ Abou Rabeh said.”