Saddam Puts Brothers Under House Arrest

Iraq’s Saddam Hussein has put two of his half brothers under house arrest and banned them from leaving the country, Iraqi dissidents said Wednesday.

Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former interior minister, and Saba’wi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former security chief, were ordered to stay at home under tight security after they requested permission to leave Iraq, according to Iraqi dissidents reached by telephone in neighboring Jordan.

The two brothers’ request to travel was apparently prompted by a power struggle inside the ruling family, following the execution in February of two of Saddam’s sons-in-law, said the anonymous sources.

Last year, Watban was reportedly shot in the leg by Saddam’s eldest son, Udai, during a family quarrel. Later, the limb was amputated.