SADDAM

Albawaba: Israel denies Qatari report saying Sharon secretly met Saddam in Baghdad following arrest

Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a brief visit Sunday to Baghdad to secretly meet former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Qatari newspaper reported Tuesday.

Al-Raya, citing Nasser Mahmoud – a top Iraqi politician with close links to the interim council, reported that "Sharon, accompanied by intelligence officers, landed at around 20:00 at the Baghdad airport."

According to the report, top civil administrator Paul L. Bremer received the Israeli leader and accompanied him during the meeting with Saddam Hussein.

Mahmoud added, according to the report, that during a meeting with Bremer after his arrival in Baghdad, Sharon had asked to see Saddam in person.

Following the meeting with the ousted leader, Sharon praised Bremer and the US army on the capture and said it "strengthens the US victory in Iraq".