BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials said they were carrying out DNA tests on a body they think could belong to a top aide of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Izzat Ibrahim Douri was reportedly killed during fighting against Sunni insurgent forces, senior Iraqi officials said Friday, in a potential blow to factions opposing the government.
Previous reports over the years about Douri’s death have proved wrong. Photos purporting to show his body circulated on social media but not from any official sources.
Iraqi officials said it was unclear when DNA results could be released.
If true, however, the killing of Douri could mark a significant gain against Sunni factions that have made apparent alliances with the Islamic State against the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Abadi met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday in Washington and appealed for more military help in confronting an array of factions, including long-standing Sunni militants, and the rising influence of the Islamic State.
In the northern city of Irbil, in the semiautonomous Kurdish region, a car bomb exploded Friday outside a cafe near the U.S. Consulate in a rare attack in the area. There was no immediate word on casualties. A U.S. official said no consulate personnel or guards were hurt, The Associated Press reported.
Douri — the “king of clubs” in the deck of playing cards issued to U.S. troops seeking key members of Hussein’s regime — has been on the run since 2003 and is thought to be a top figure among Sunni insurgents that include tribal fighters and others loyal to Hussein’s former Baathist regime.
Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, said Friday that he was unable to corroborate reports of Douri’s death.
“We’re certainly aware of who he is and the role he played within the Hussein regime,” he said at the Pentagon.
Ryder also declined to say whether the U.S. military had targeted Douri in recent months with airstrikes or other operations.
Douri was reported to have been killed during clashes near Tikrit, Hussein’s hometown and the site of recent battles to drive out Islamic State militants and their allies, according to Ahmed al-Karim, head of the Salahuddin provincial council. The province includes Tikrit.
