US troops with bulldozers began demolishing the villa where the brothers were killed, after scouring it for clues to the whereabouts of the deposed dictator. The wall around the squat concrete mansion was knocked down and Iraqi workers clambered over the roof, pounding it with sledgehammers. ?The villa had been badly damaged when US troops attacked it with machineguns, grenades and anti-tank missiles in the fierce battle that killed Uday, 39, Qusay, 37, and two others believed to be a bodyguard and Qusay`s teenage son.
The house belonged to a businessman. US officials have declined comment on local speculation that it was he who betrayed the brothers in return for $30 million in reward money. Washington says it will pay. ?
Iraqis crowded round newspaper stalls in Baghdad to view photographs of the bullet-scarred and blood-spattered bodies of the brothers. US officials hope the pictures and television displays of the bodies will convince skeptical Iraqis that Uday and Qusay are dead and check the wave of guerrilla attacks.
US in Iraq troops are braced for more bloodshed. Finger on the trigger of a machinegun mounted on an armored personnel carrier in Tikrit, Staff Sergeant Kenneth Maxwell admitted to nerves as other soldiers checked civilian cars passing through his checkpoint for weapons. ?"Our commanders have put us on a heightened state of alert," Maxwell said, adding that guerrillas were now attacking during the day as well as at night. Tension has risen noticeably.
Resentment is building in Tikrit and elsewhere in Iraq. Many people complain that US troops are trigger-happy and heavy-handed during searches for arms. ?"American soldiers just charged into my house. When my son stood up they shot him," said Sulayman Moussa, one of a group of elderly men who sat discussing the US presence. ?"He was just a poor man. He was not in Saddam`s party." US troops in Tikrit come under fire from attackers with rocket-propelled grenades, Kalashnikov assault rifles or remote-controlled bombs every few days, soldiers say.
The killing of Saddam`s sons may have been a propaganda victory for Washington, but it has left US troops in Iraq feeling more vulnerable than ever. There are more troops guarding bridges and positioned on watchtowers. ? "They told us to keep on our toes at all times. Now we have to wear flak vests and all our gear inside the compound as well," said Sergeant Jenny Olson, of Fort Hood, Texas. "At first I didn't feel threatened but now I do. I think it is going to get worse before it can get better."
