U.S. forces closing in on Saddam?

U.S. forces believe they are close to capturing Saddam Hussein in the area of his hometown, Tikrit, according to a senior commander.

U.S. forces search suspected Fedayeen rebel's home in Mosul (U.S. Army photo)

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"He's running out of space, and he's running out of support," said Col. James Hickey, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, according to Reuters. "We're going to get him, and it's going to be sooner rather than later ... . Watch this space."

Hickey said the ousted Iraqi dictator's support base is eroding, and he is moving in ever-diminishing circles, Reuters reported.

"We're working on a lot of interesting information right now and have good reason to believe he's still in this area," Hickey said during a late night patrol of the streets of Tikrit, about 100 miles north of Baghdad.

Hickey declined to elaborate, but said the U.S. forces have "specific information and we have our eye on the mark."

"Reason, logic and that specific information tell me that we are getting closer and closer," he told Reuters.

Saddam has been on the run since the U.S. brought down his regime April 9. His sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a firefight with U.S. troops last month.

The 4th Infantry Division has led hundreds of patrols and raids in the Tikrit area in pursuit of Saddam and his loyalists, Reuters said.

A former Republican Guard chief of staff and a senior Republican Guard commander, believed to be one of Saddam's bodyguards, were seized earlier this week.

Reuters said U.S. forces patrolling Tirkit and surrounding towns are offering themselves virtually as bait in an attempt to draw fighters from Saddam's Fedayeen militia and other loyalists out into the open.

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Meanwhile, the Arabic television channel Al Jazeera reports Saddam has written a letter urging leading Shiite clerics in Iraq to declare a jihad against coalition forces.

Al Jazeera said the letter was a response to questions the news organization sent to Saddam.