Coalition forces are holding a leading Baath Party and militia commander for central Iraq, the US Central Command (Centcom) this morning as the hunt for the most wanted Iraqis steps up.
Mr Ghazi Hammud al-Ubaydi was Baath Party Regional Command chairman and Baath militia leader for Wasit governorate, centred on the city of Al-Kut, about 150 kilometres south of Baghdad, a statement said.
Mr Ubaydi, "now in Coalition custody", according to Centcom, was number 32 on the US list of 55 most wanted Iraqis and the two of hearts in the pack of cards issued to assist US troops.
The statement did not say if he had been arrested or had surrendered to the US-led coalition. He would be the 20th Iraqi on the wanted list to be detained if US authorities confirm the capture of Mizban Khidir Hadi, a former member of the Revolutionary Command Council, the highest body within the deposed government, as reported Saturday by the Washington Post.
On Monday, a US defence official said troops had detained a top female scientist involved in Iraq's weapons programs, Ms Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, dubbed "Mrs Anthrax".
Ms Ammash (47) was the only woman on the list, which is headed by the elusive Saddam Hussein. Washington considered her a major catch as it steps up the hunt for evidence of the banned nuclear, biological and chemical weapons it claims Baghdad was developing.
However Saddam and his two sons have so far escaped coalition clutches, and the Australian Sydney Morning Heralddaily today said it had received what seemed to be a tape of a call for Iraqis to remain loyal, recorded by Saddam this week.
AFP