[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Turning now to Iraq. We begin this hour in Iraq. Violent resistance has claimed the life of another American serviceman today in Baghdad, bringing the total number of Americans killed in the Iraq war to 258. The U.S. military says it's doubtful Saddam Hussein is directing the guerrilla-style attacks, saying the former dictator is on the run, moving often, they say. CNN's Jane Arraf is in Saddam Hussein's ancestral hometown of Tikrit where the hunt for him has most recently been focused. She joins us live from the latest the latest from there, rather. Hi, Jane.
[Jane Arraf, Cnn Baghdad Bureau Chief:] Hi, Fredricka. We're actually in Saddam's former palace, where the army is camped out. And some of the focus on that search for Saddam is taking place here. But they want to emphasize that is not the main focus. They're trying to, as they put it, dry up the swamp, get those second level people who are contributing to attacks on U.S. forces and lead to that climate where Saddam can be hiding. Now, there was a different sort of confrontation this morning. Two Iraqis dead, two more wounded and a fifth, a bystander, injured when U.S. forces opened fire on men buying and selling weapons. The twist was that they were not confronting U.S. soldiers. This was, if you will, a preemptive strike, meant to send a warning. The commanding officer, Colonel Steve Russell, says they're able to do raids like and that and able to continue the search for Saddam on the basis of more information that's been coming in.
[Lt. Col. Steve Russell, U.s. Army:] We're getting a lot of cooperation from the Iraqi people on members of the former regime, those that are attacking coalition forces, great cooperation from the Iraqi police. We had that also in our incidents this morning. As far as tips on the inner leadership or on Saddam himself we will always get some information and we treat every single piece of information seriously.
[Arraf:] Now, that doesn't mean that they're going to find Saddam anytime soon. Officials here caution that he could be anywhere. It's a large swath of area that he feels comfortable in. This is his ancestral homeland. And there's still a large part of the population that supports him. This morning, we were out in the markets, out in the street after this raid where two Iraqis were killed and people were chanting still their loyalty for Saddam Fredricka.
[Whitfield:] All right, Jane Arraf in Tikrit, thanks very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com Arms