U.S. uses videos in its efforts to trip up the former dictator

WASHINGTON — Saddam Hussein is being shown videotapes of anti-Saddam protests in Iraq, the unearthing of mass graves and the torture and execution of prisoners during his reign, two U.S. officials who are receiving reports on his interrogation said Tuesday.

The goal is to provoke him into making unguarded statements by confronting him with evidence that could be used in a war-crimes trial, according to the two officials, one in the administration and one in an intelligence agency.

Saddam, 66, was captured Saturday in a burrow, or "spider hole," on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit and taken to an undisclosed location in the region for questioning. He had been a fugitive from U.S. and coalition forces for eight months.

High-ranking officials of the U.S. military, Justice Department and intelligence agencies, including the CIA, are involved in the questioning. The CIA is taking the lead, but Saddam will remain in military custody, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

"Characterizing his general relationship with his captors . . . the best word would be 'resigned,' " he said.

Tapes of torture and execution were made by Saddam's regime. Some were sent to relatives of his victims to intimidate them. U.S. intelligence officials obtained some of the tapes from those relatives.

Interrogators are watching Saddam's reactions to guide them in future questioning, the intelligence official said.

During Saddam's first two days in custody, he was pressed for details on impending attacks on coalition forces. He denied knowing anything.

Now questioners are proceeding more methodically, asking questions with answers they know to test his veracity, the intelligence official said.

Rumsfeld said the troops who captured Saddam had the authority under standard rules to kill him if he had resisted with gunfire.

During Saddam's interrogation, psychology experts are analyzing every "sweat gland, word and twitch," the intelligence official said.

Interrogators hope to gradually work through Saddam's truculence and what the official called his canned responses. The two officials said the questioners hope he will lapse into boasting about his crimes as president of Iraq.

Eventually, he will be quizzed more specifically about chemical and biological weapons, countries that may have helped Iraq with its weapons programs and Iraq's ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, they said.