November 12, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Family members of the highest-ranking leader from Saddam Hussein's Baath party, who has evaded U.S. capture for more than two years, Saturday denied his reported death.

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri's death was announced in a Web statement signed by the Arab Baathist Socialist Party in Iraq on Saturday and e-mailed to some news agencies on Friday. A replacement, Abdul Kader Talab al-Douri, was named.

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri is believed to have financed and directed much of the bloody insurgency that has plagued Iraq since the invasion in 2003. Al-Douri, described as deeply religious, was credited with bringing together Baathist insurgents and Islamist militants to battle U.S. forces in Iraq.

While news of his death blared on Arabic satellite news stations, two of al-Douri's uncles, who asked not to be named to protect their security, denied that their nephew was dead. They said he was being treated for leukemia and remained in stable condition.

Abdul Kader Talab al-Douri, a poet and librarian in the town of Dour, where Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri is from, called the announcement a mockery and said he would not be taking over leadership of the Baath party. The two men are not related.

"This is a joke and I am the accused one because the statement had my name," al-Douri said. "I assure you no one paid attention to this news but some people accused me and said that I made this up."

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was the king of clubs, the most wanted man still at large, in the famous deck of playing cards of fugitive Iraqis issued by the United States after the invasion. Despite suffering from leukemia for at least six years and a $10 million price on his head, he has successfully evaded capture.

U.S. and Iraqi officials did not confirm Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri's death.

"We have no confirmation if he died," said Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, a top military spokesman. "If we had known where he was we would have captured him."

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari called al-Douri's death unimportant to the political structure of Iraq.

"I consider all the former regime symbols to be dead," he said. "They have disappeared from the political scene, so their death is not something new."

Knight Ridder Newspapers special correspondent Mohammed al Dulaimy contributed to this report. Special correspondent al Joubouri reported from Tikrit. Fadel reports for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.