Saddam-era vice president believed dead in Iraq

Saddam Hussein's former vice president Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri is believed to have been killed during operations in Iraq's Salahudin province, a security source said on Friday.

The security forces clashed with a group of gunmen near the Allas oilfield in east of Salahudin's provincial capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, leaving at least 10 militants dead, Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

"One of the killed is largely believed to be Izzat al-Douri, and his body was immediately transferred to Baghdad to carry out DNA test to verify the identity of the body," the source said.

Douri, who is believed to be one of the major founders for Sunni Arab insurgency against the US-led coalition force after 2003, threatened to continue resistance against the Shia-led government which he said "turned Iraq into an easy prey for Safavids", referring to the Iranian dynasty (1499-1736) that established Shia Islam in Iran as an official state religion and frequently fought the Islamic Sunni world.

Iraqi and US officials believe that Douri played a key role in organising resistance that erupted in 2003 against the US-led coalition and was instrumental in forging links between remnants of the ousted regime and Sunni Islamic militant groups.

As the Sunni insurgency spread following 2003 invasion, the US and its allies offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Douri's capture.

He was born in 1942, and had been a close associate of Saddam Hussein throughout his rule and officially was the No.2 man in Iraq's ruling hierarchy when the Baath regime collapsed as US troops occupied Iraqi capital of Baghdad in April 2003. He was No.6 on the American "deck of cards" of most-wanted fugitives.

He was placed in command of Iraqi forces in the north just before the US-led invasion in March 2003 but escaped the US dragnet after organised resistance collapsed. He was rumoured to be in Syria or elsewhere.

Several family members, including his wife, were detained in late 2003 in hopes of pressuring him into surrendering.