A Father's Choice: Kill Son or Watch Family Die

DHULUAIYAH, Iraq (AP) - The tale is recounted only in whispers, but its horror still rings loud through the orchards of apples, dates and figs surrounding this small town.

Last month, townspeople say, tribal leaders gave a farmer named Salim Khaldoun a sobering choice: Kill your son, or watch your entire family be killed.

His son Sabah, 29, had committed a terrible crime. Eager for money, he had tipped off the Americans to a house where he said Saddam Hussein had stayed.

U.S. soldiers raided the house, finding no trace of Saddam but killing a 12-year-old boy. Sabah, neighbors say, accompanied the soldiers on the raid. His face was covered with a sack, but they recognized him easily.

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