World Tribune: Baghdad has been swept by rumors that the United States captured President Saddam Hussein earlier this week.

The rumors stemmed from published reports within Iraq that a unit of the U.S. Fourth Infantry Division secretly captured Saddam and his younger son Qusay in a farmhouse in Tikrit earlier this week. U.S. Central Command has denied the reports while acknowledging the capture of Sadam's secretary.

The Iraqi newspaper Sada Al Watan, available on the Internet, reported that a U.S. force found Saddam, Qusay and the president's secretary Abid Hamid Mahmoud Tikriti in the Sunni city of Tikrit on Wednesday. The newspaper said the United States brought the three men to Baghdad airport and flew them to an unknown location for interrogation.

Sada Al Watan said the United States concealed the capture of Saddam and Qusay to prevent attempts by loyalists to free them.