Adib Shaaban, the right hand man of Saddam Hussein’s powerful son Uday, has defected, reports the Debka-Net-Weekly intelligence bulletin.
According to U.S. intelligence sources, Shaaban, a key member of Saddam’s administration, who was charged with his son’s most sensitive missions, traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the beginning of this week, saying he needed to put through some gold transactions ahead of the war.
From Jeddah, he flew to Beirut and disappeared, reports Debka.
Intelligence sources report that Shaaban never really went to Beirut, but that he made his way under cover to Damascus Monday and was picked up by an unmarked plane for an unknown destination.
As Uday’s closest aide, he managed a chain of official publications, including the authoritative Babel, and was in on the Saddam regime’s deepest secrets, the report says.
Uday commands the secret army known as Saddam’s Fedayeen, the backbone of Baghdad’s defenses and, reports Debka, custodian of the regime’s weapons of mass destruction.
Uday also is the chief of the ruling Baath Party’s covert service.
It is believed that, considering his position, Shaaban likely holds a veritable treasury of Saddam Hussein’s secrets.
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