Word: numan
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...Numan's capture was accompanied only by a terse statement from the US Central Command that offered no detail. But TIME has learned that Numan's capture followed a three-week back-and-forth negotiation involving Numan's family and other intermediaries, a scenario not unlike the one that paved the way for the surrender of deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz to US forces on April...
...Since then little was heard of Numan until he was seized at dawn by U.S. forces in Baghdad today. Numan is the highest-ranking former Iraqi official to be taken into custody by the U.S. so far and eighth on the list most wanted fugitives. He is also a man described on a US State Dept. website as rising, "from low-key provincial positions thanks to his reputed cruelty, brutal efficiency, and loyalty...
...Numan served as military governor of Iraqi occupied Kuwait during the first Gulf War, presiding over a wave of torture, murder, rape, looting and other atrocities, as hundreds of the sheikdom's oil wells were set ablaze. A Shiite and tribal leader from Nasiriyya, he has been accused of using the most brutal methods to put down a Shiite rebellion in 1991 southern Iraq...
...Family members were concerned that Numan, who is 62 and a diabetic in constant need of insulin, was in precarious health and would require medical attention that he could not get while hiding from US forces. So intermediaries approached the US government. At first, family members tried to find out what crimes Numan might be charged with and whether he could avoid being tried by an Iraqi court. But the US has made clear it will not offer guarantees to anyone, although US operatives do offer private assurances that prisoners will be treated properly and receive medical attention...
...Eventually, family members were given a Baghdad contact through which to reach US operatives. Meanwhile, Numan's son-in-law, a medical doctor, was reportedly taken into custody in hopes of convincing him to lead them to Numan. But the son-in-law refused and was released...