Military

DATE=7/24/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / PHOTOS (L)

NUMBER=2-305779

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq has released photos said to show the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons Qusay and Uday. V-O-A's Dale Gavlak has the details from Baghdad.

TEXT: The pictures of the two sons were released in Baghdad Thursday to journalists for immediate broadcast and publication worldwide.

The pictures are extremely graphic, showing the bloodied and bruised torsos of the two men. A large head injury is seen on Uday. Autopsy results expected by the end of the week will provide the conclusive explanation.

Beards and longer hair on both men change their appearance somewhat. Because of the altered appearance, a number of Iraqis, such as oil worker Mohsin Khalil, say they remain skeptical. He is heard here through a translator.

/// KHALIL ACT ///

They are not Uday or Qusay. I know because, you know, they are famous people. They appeared everyday on T-V. The pictures are not like Uday or Qusay exactly.

/// END ACT ///

The Coalition Provisional Authority says it released the photos to prove to Iraqis that Saddam's sons are indeed dead. A Coalition spokesman said such gruesome photographs would not normally be displayed, but given Iraqi suspicions about the deaths, it became necessary to make the photos public.

However, Coalition spokesmen say forensic evidence, from medical and dental records, has already confirmed the men's identities.

Saddam Hussein's sons died in a fierce firefight Tuesday in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul with troops from the U-S Army 101st Airborne Division. (SIGNED)

NEB/DG/KL/RH/FC