Terror links of Saddam's UK refugee cousin
A cousin of Saddam Hussein who was granted asylum in Britain is today accused of providing billions of pounds to support the Iraqi insurgency.
Izzi-Din Mohammed Hassan al-Majid, 44, a former aide to the dictator, was given refugee status in Britain five years ago.
He returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam but today the Iraqi government claims he is the man behind some of their country's most deadly terror groups. A government
investigation alleges Al-Majid became the chief bankroller of the insurgency, in control of up to ?3.7 billion stolen from the country's banks by Saddam as he f led US forces in 2003.
Officials claim Al-Majid coordinated and united the actions of three of Iraq's major terrorist groups - Ansar al-Sunna, Mohammed's Army and the Islamic Resistance Army. He will now face an official trial for war crimes. Al-Majid was granted asylum in Britain in 2000 after he claimed that one of his wives and their four children died in a 1996 massacre. A former member of Saddam's personal bodyguard, he said he feared he would also be killed if he returned to Iraq and that he needed Britain's help.
- The number of British troops seriously injured in Iraq has soared to nearly 800. Until now the Ministry of Defence has revealed only the death toll in the country, which stands at 73.
