Senior Saddam aide captured

Senior Saddam aide captured

By Pam O'Toole BBC, London

A half-brother of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti, has been arrested in Northern Iraq, according to a Kurdish official.

Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti held key posts in Iraq's security apparatus

Hoshyar Zebbari of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said Mr Tikriti had been picked up by Kurdish and American forces in the Rabia district, near the Syrian border.

He has now been flown by US helicopter to an unknown location for interrogation, Mr Zebbari said.

Mr Tikriti - who was on Washington's most wanted list - is one of the most senior Iraqi officials captured by coalition forces so far.

He is a former Interior Minister and also held a series of jobs in the Iraqi security apparatus.

A joint force of Iraqi Kurdish fighters and American special forces were patrolling the area, north-west of Mosul, when they were tipped off by local people that Mr Tikriti had been spotted in a village nearby, Mr Zebbari said.

It's the beginning of the apprehension of most of the Iraqi leadership who are still in the country

Hoshyar Zebbari, KDP

The patrol immediately apprehended him.

Mr Tikriti is one of three half-brothers of Saddam Hussein.

Mr Zebbari called his arrest a "very important development".

"It's the beginning of the apprehension of most of the Iraqi leadership who are still in the country," he said.

"And it shows that the Iraqi people are co-operating to identify and disclose the location of these people who have committed huge and massive atrocities," Mr Zebbari added.

The Iraqi Kurds admit that Watban Ibrahim al Tikriti has been less politically powerful since the mid 1990s, when he was shot by Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, in a family row.

Nevertheless, the Americans will be keen to question him about the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein.