TIKRIT, Iraq – The U.S. military said Friday it may fill in the spider hole (search) that Saddam Hussein (search) used as his final hiding place to prevent it from becoming a tourist attraction.
Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division, said the military has been considering destroying the hole and hut in the village of Adwar (search), north of Baghdad, which the former Iraqi dictator used before his Dec. 13 capture by American forces.
"The 4th Infantry Division is discussing that it should be torn down so it doesn't turn into a local tourist attraction," Aberle said.
Aberle said the Army wanted to prevent sightseers and others traveling to the site, which is in an area where U.S. forces are still conducting military operations.
"A key reason to tear it down would be to reduce the amount of extra traffic going to the area, which only complicates our military mission," she said.
Aberle described any final decision to destroy the site as more "political than military," and believed that consultations would more than likely take place between American military commanders in Baghdad and Iraqi leaders from the U.S.-appointed Governing Council.
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