British intelligence says Saddam survived first raid

British intelligence reports suggest President Saddam Hussein emerged alive from the initialUS raid of the Iraq war but left …

British intelligence reports suggest President Saddam Hussein emerged alive from the initialUS raid of the Iraq war but left the area in an ambulance,junior British Foreign Office minister Mr Mike O'Brien said today.

"We've received information that Saddam Hussein left thearea in an ambulance. There was some talk that he had beeninjured, even some suggestion that he had been killed. It seemsthat is unlikely, that if he was injured it doesn't appear itwas a serious injury," O'Brien told BBC radio.

He said the information came from "at least one eyewitness".