Key Iraqi leaders seized

General al-Naqib is a key military figure

Three more Iraqi officials on the US list of 55 most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime have been captured, US Central Command has said.

The former chief of Iraqi military intelligence, General Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib - the 21st most-wanted man on the list - surrendered to US forces in Baghdad, US officials said.

The US has also captured the former head of the air defence forces, Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti (10), Iraq's former trade minister, Mohammed Mahdi al-Salih (48) and an Iraqi intelligence officer not on the wanted list.

IRAQI LEADERS IN CUSTODY (AS RANKED BY US FORCES)

10. Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti

18. Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaidi

21. Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib

24. Samir al-Aziz al-Najem

40. Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti

45. Hikmat al-Azzawi

48. Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih

51. Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti

52. Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti

54. Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur

55. Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi

Iraq's most wanted

This brings to 11 the number of Iraqi leaders to have been arrested in the last few days.

Gen al-Naqib was head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, which monitored the loyalty of Iraq's regular army, provided security at Iraqi military facilities and collected intelligence on military forces opposing Iraq.

In an interview before his surrender, he said he had nothing to apologise for for being a member of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The series of captures could potentially be of great benefit to the US military in its hunt for weapons of mass destruction and information about other Iraqi leaders, says the BBC's Nick Childs in Washington.

Gen al-Naqib may also be able to provide details of Iraqi military intelligence operations abroad and any possible links with terrorist organisations.

Much will depend on how co-operative the captives are, but certainly Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti - the highest-ranking officer captured so far - is close to Saddam Hussein and his family, our correspondent adds.

In other developments:

• A US army commander in Iraq says the fighting there is not over and there are now more American troops in the country than ever

• The first group of UN international aid personnel returns to northern Iraq more than a month after leaving the country

• President Bush says he has no plans for any new military action in the Gulf or elsewhere

• Prominent Iraqi Shia cleric Mohammed al-Fartusi says he was mistreated after allegedly being detained by US forces on his way back to Baghdad from Karbala

• General Jay Garner - the US civil administrator for Iraq - says he wants a new Iraqi administration to be running "very soon".

The captured Iraqi intelligence officer is Salim Said Khalaf al-Jumayli, US Central Command said in a statement.

"He is suspected of having knowledge of Iraqi Intelligence service activities in the United States, including names of persons spying for Iraq," said Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson.

In spite of the spate of captures, neither Saddam Hussein nor his two sons have yet been caught.

The UK Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, on a visit to southern Iraq on Wednesday, said he believed the former leader was still alive and hiding in the country.