(New York Times)- Dexter Filkins On March 18, just before the start of the war in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's second son, Qusay, along with Abid al-Hamid Mahmood, the president's personal assistant, carried off nearly $1 billion in cash from the country's Central Bank, according to American and Iraqi officials. The removal of the money, which would amount to one of the largest bank robberies in history, was performed under the direct orders of Saddam Hussein. The sheer volume of the cash was so great - some $900 million in American $100 bills and as much as $100 million worth of euros - that three tractor-trailers were needed to cart it off. Some Americans suspect that the money may have been spirited across the border into Syria. Col. Ted Seel, a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, said intelligence information at the time indicated that a group of tractor-trailers crossed the Iraqi border into Syria.
2003-05-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive