WASHINGTON — The sons of Saddam Hussein escaped to Syria after the U.S. invasion of Iraq a year ago but were ultimately expelled by the Syrian regime, former and current Bush administration officials say.
U.S. forces killed Uday and Qusay Hussein on July 22 after a fierce shootout in Mosul, Iraq, about 70 miles from the Syrian border. But their whereabouts before then have not been public knowledge.
Syrian ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha said his government "categorically denies" allowing Saddam's sons to enter the country. He said similar accusations made in the past turned out to be wrong and "evaporated into thin air."
The U.S. account was provided by one former and two current U.S. officials, who asked not to be named but who have information about Saddam's sons' travels. One was involved in the U.S. invasion, and the other two have direct knowledge of U.S. diplomatic exchanges with Syria's government.
The disclosure comes as the Bush administration is on the verge of imposing new trade sanctions against the government of President Bashar Assad, with which it has had difficult relations.
Besides objecting to Syria's behavior during the war, Washington accuses the Damascus government of supporting anti-Israeli militant groups and developing weapons of mass destruction. In January, President Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act, which authorizes diplomatic and trade penalties against Syria.
A State Department official said Wednesday that the administration would implement the law soon, banning the sale to Syria of U.S. items with dual military and civilian use. The administration may also restrict other trade and prohibit Syrian airliners from flying through U.S. airspace.
The Bush administration harshly criticized Syria during the initial phases of the Iraq war for allowing Iraqi regime members into the country and permitting weapons and foreign fighters to cross the other way. The Syrian government opposed the invasion and has had trouble adjusting to the Bush administration's assertive foreign policy — and to the fact that its next-door neighbor is now a U.S.-occupied nation.
"Before, after and during the war, Syrian behavior was appalling," says Judith Kipper, a Middle East expert at the Washington office of the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank. "Syrians just don't understand that their geopolitical situation has changed."
The U.S. officials said that Qusay and Uday had spent time in Syria after the war began March 19. One current U.S. official said it was possible that the two men crossed in and out of Syria several times with a small number of aides, and bribed border guards to gain entry. Their mother, Saddam's first wife, Sajida, also fled to Syria and is believed to be there.
The U.S. officials said that the Syrian government may not have known initially that Qusay and Uday were in the country. It was not clear why Syria expelled Saddam's sons, but shortly after the fall of Baghdad, Bush administration officials publicly accused Syria of harboring high-level Iraqi fugitives and hinted that the war might expand into Syria.
Next to Saddam, who was captured by U.S. forces in December, Uday and Qusay were the most wanted men on a U.S. list of 55 top regime officials. Qusay ran much of Iraq's security apparatus and was viewed as Saddam's successor after Uday was crippled in an assassination attempt in 1996.
Their deaths were a major morale boost for the Bush administration, although attacks on U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies have continued.