DOHA, Qatar -- U.S. forces have an important tool at their disposal as they try to crack the mystery of Saddam Hussein's whereabouts: a sample of the Iraqi dictator's DNA.

Gen. Tommy Franks, the U.S. commander in Iraq, said Sunday the genetic material would be checked against DNA taken from bodies found in the aftermath of coalition missile and bomb strikes.

"The appropriate people with the appropriate forensics are doing checks you would find appropriate in each of the places where we think we may have killed regime leadership," Franks told CNN.

He acknowledged a positive match might be hard to get, particularly if remains have been removed.

"But what you should know, we have the forensics capability to chase these things down, and we'll chase them down, every one of them, all the way," he said.

Franks said coalition forces also have DNA from other top Iraqi leaders. He did not explain how the DNA was obtained. It can be culled from a wide range of sources, including licked envelopes.

Asked on ABC This Week whether he believed Saddam was still alive, Franks said he wasn't sure.

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