BAGHDAD, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's nephew, accused of financing the Sunni insurgency against U.S. forces, escaped from prison in northern Iraq on Saturday with the help of a guard, Iraqi officials said.

Ayman al-Sabawi, the son of Saddam's half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, escaped from Badoush prison northwest of the northern city of Mosul at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT), a senior police officer told Reuters.

Brigadier Mohammad al-Waqaa, the head of the Mosul police operation room, said the nightwatch commander had helped Sabawi to escape. It was unclear how they made their getaway.

Sabawi's father was head of the Iraqi secret service in 1991 and head of the General Security Directorate from 1991 to 1996. After Saddam's overthrow in 2003, Washington offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

It is believed that Syria turned over Sabawi's father, who had been in hiding, to the Iraqi authorities in February 2005.

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