Iraq is unable to confirm death of senior Saddam's aide

Iraqi health ministry said on Friday that it was unable to confirm the death of General Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, senior aide for late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds said.

In a statement, the ministry said: “It has been a norm that a DNA examination is done to confirm identification of a certain corps… Because we have no matches for the aforementioned criminal [Al-Douri], we have been unable to announce the final result yet.”

Spokesman of the Ministry of Health Ziyad Tariq stated to AFP: “Currently, the ministry does not have DNA matches for any of Al-Douri’s relatives.”

He reiterated that there were several parties working to get the needed matches. “The matter is related to more than one side,” he said. “It is not solely the responsibility of the ministry of health.”

A DNA examination for anyone must match previous culture for the same person or cultures for his/her relatives.