Reports of Saddam Hussein hiding in hole 'fabricated': Iraqi Interpreter

Reports that US troops captured former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein while he was hiding in an underground hole were fabricated, an Iraqi interpreter who worked with the US military at the time said

Reports that US troops captured former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein while he was hiding in an underground hole were fabricated, an Iraqi interpreter who worked with the US military at the time told Sputnik.

Following Hussein's arrest on December 13, 2003, the Pentagon claimed that the former Iraqi president was found hiding in an eight-foot-deep hole under a farm. In reality, Hussein was in a room at the time of his arrest, was unconscious and did not understand what he was saying nor what was happening, according to the interpreter, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

"After his arrest, the situation was fabricated so that the American administration, headed by Bush, could get out [unscathed], so that the coalition he had created against Iraq would not be defeated, so that the US authority would not suffer because of the attack on Iraq under the pretext of having weapons of mass destruction and imminent threat to peace," the interpreter said.

The interpreter stressed he wanted the world to know that Hussein was in the room, most likely praying as he was wearing a traditional Arab robe, called dishdasha, and the notion that he was cowering in a pit at the time of his arrest was fabricated.

Hussein would not have been able to get inside the tunnel, as it was too narrow and the president was already weak at the time, the interpreter added.

"I was wearing a bulletproof vest, I took it off and was able to forcefully squeeze myself into the hole, I could also get out with difficulty. Yes, there was a hole, but the information that the president was arrested there... I'm telling you - he was in the room, he was arrested in the room," the interpreter stressed.

It was "an ordinary room" with no means of communication, it contained only a wardrobe, two beds, a radio, a voice recorder, a small TV, some clothes and shoes, according to the interpreter.

On December 30, 2006, Hussein was executed after the US invaded Iraq on the pretext of searching for weapons of mass destruction the country was allegedly hiding. The existence of such weapons was never proved.