] Three Iraqis who aided the CIA in the March 20 attempt by
] the United States to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
] were executed this week by Iraqi counterintelligence,
] former and serving U.S. officials told United Press
] International.

] Sources told UPI that Iraqi counterintelligence killed
] the three, shooting two and cutting out the tongue of a
] third, who bled to death. They said U.S. intelligence
] had learned this from their forces on the ground in Iraq.

] One former long-time CIA operative said it was the
] Delta men, already in country, who made the breakthrough
] for the U.S. attack by infiltrating a key Baghdad
] telecommunications center and tapping a fiber optic
] telephone line.

] Iraqi assets, recruited by the agency, played a key
] part in the operation by providing "priceless"
] information, relating to the phone system and details
] of Dora Farm, according to one former senior CIA official.

] A senior administration official told UPI that Saddam
] had suffered two burst eardrums in the attack, and "was
] bleeding from the nose and mouth." This source added
] that Saddam was so disoriented by concussion damage that
] he was in "a vegetative state" for hours after the strike.

] Another administration official said that Saddam was
] "definitely alive" after the strike and appeared on
] Friday, March 21, wearing glasses because of concussive
] damage to the capillaries of his retinas.