Syrian officials hand over Saddam's half-brother

[Viva_La_Revolution]

By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Iraqi officials said Sunday that Syrian authorities captured Saddam Hussein's half brother in Syria and handed him over to Iraq in an apparent goodwill gesture.

Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, who was also a former adviser suspected of financing insurgents after U.S. troops ousted the former dictator, was captured in Hasakah in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border, two senior Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The officials did not specify when al-Hassan was captured, only saying he was detained following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, Lebanon, in a blast that killed 16 others.



more - http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=75296

My theory - Syria knew where this guy was, AND what he was planning (the assassination of the Prime Minister) They let him do it, THEN they picked him up and turned him over. Two birds w/ one bloody stone.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. more from BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4301825.stm

[robcon]

2. Follow the money.

Saddam's half brother probably could have funded his 'insurgent' group for years with the loot Saddam's family stole from Iraq.

Assad probably wanted to show a sign of acknowledgment to the new government of Iraq, and ease the pressure on Syria concerning the Hariri assassination.