An Iraqi opposition leader says that Saddam Hussein was wounded in an assassination attempt by one of his top aides.
Bayan Jabr of the opposition Shiite Supreme Assembly, which is based in Tehran, Iran, said Monday that the aide, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was killed by Saddam's bodyguards after shooting the Iraqi leader in the right hand.The report could not be independently confirmed.
Jabr did not say when or where the alleged killing took place. But he said, "An Iraqi intelligence major who was captured in Basra yesterday said he carried Ramadan's body in his arms."
However, the government newspaper al-Thawra reported Tuesday that Ramadan, the first deputy prime minister and a member of Iraq's ruling Revolutionary Council, was one of the aides touring four southern Iraqi provinces Monday to rally support for Saddam.