US: Four American soldiers have been arrested for trying to steal nearly $1 million found hidden in Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces, it was reported yesterday.
Three are accused of taking $600,000 in $100 bills and hiding them in a tree, and the fourth allegedly took $300,000 and stashed it in several places, including the glove compartment of his truck.
Jonathan Foreman, a New York Post reporter with the 4th Battalion, 64th Armoured Regiment, in Baghdad, quoted Maj Kent Rideout saying that the men would be court martialled.
The arrests were made after troops found $656 million hidden behind breeze blocks in a district near the Tigris river last week. A further $112 million was found this week.
Brig Gen Vincent Brooks said at central command in Qatar that efforts would be made to discover whether the cash was genuine. If it was it would be returned to the Iraqi people.
- (Guardian Service)