Saddam 'didn't expect invasion'

Saddam Hussein believed that Iraq would never be invaded because the US would get bogged down in "interminable debate at the UN", his interrogators believe.

The ousted dictator thought that the uncertainty about his weapons arsenal would prevent his neighbours from invading, while the US would be stuck in negotiations about launching an attack an intelligence official claimed.

Although the interrogations of Saddam have yielded little about whether he recently possessed weapons of mass destruction, they have provided a fascinating insight into aspects of his life and leadership.

During interrogation sessions, Saddam suggested that he ordered the 1990 invasion of Kuwait to keep his army busy.

He appeared to fear giving officers too much time without being occupied by combat.

An intelligence official also told the newspaper that interrogators believe Saddam was shocked when the coalition attacked and then invaded Iraq in March last year.

The officials said Saddam believed that ambiguity about his weapons programmes "would keep the neighbours at bay, while the US would be hung up in interminable debate at the UN".

During one session he appeared to boast that he had infiltrated the Iraqi National Congress, the exile organisation which pressed for the invasion of Iraq.

While there were no physical methods of coercion used, psychological tactics were employed.

Sometimes, the interrogator would try to catch Saddam out by questioning him for hours, and then leaving him alone for a period of time before returning to ask just one more question.

In one session Saddam told how his son Uday had beaten to death someone who had annoyed him by playing music too loudly.

Saddam said he had Uday imprisoned in solitary confinement as punishment.

It has been widely reported that Uday bludgeoned to death his father's valet and food taster in 1988, apparently because he had introduced Saddam to the woman who became his mistress.

Despite the insights, Saddam gave little away during interrogation which would incriminate him in his trial for crimes against humanity, including genocide.

"We got very little, I would say almost nothing," said an official who served with the occupation authority.

Saddam was initially in the hands of the CIA but when it became clear he would not co-operate with them, the FBI took a greater role in questioning him, the New York Times reported.

For much of his detention Saddam's guards were reservists from Puerto Rico, who were ordered to speak only Spanish in his presence.