Iraq: US forces in Iraq have captured a top aide of Saddam Hussein, presidential secretary Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, who was number four on the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, the US military said last night, writes Jack Fairweather
The presidential secretary was the highest-ranked on the list to have been caught so far, being the ace of diamonds in the US "deck of cards" of hunted Iraqis. US forces have now captured 32 of the 55 on the list.
US Central Command said in a statement that the presidential secretary, who, during Saddam's rule, was rarely far from the president's side, was captured on Monday. He also had the jobs of National Security Adviser and senior bodyguard.
News of the latest capture came as a senior US general said US troops raided two farmhouses near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, capturing as many as 50 of former President Saddam's Special Republican Guard and security forces.
The troops also seized millions of US dollars, British pounds, euros and Iraqi dinars, apparently designated in part to pay bounties to kill American soldiers.
Army Maj Gen Ray Odierno said his troops seized $8.5 million, 300 to 400 million dinars, uncounted English pounds and euros, and jewels valued at up to $1 million.
The general told reporters that part of the money had likely been set aside by members of Saddam's outlawed Baath Party to pay paramilitary and other supporters of the missing president to kill US troops.
"They have put a bounty on shooting at American soldiers and trying to kill US soldiers . . . There is a bounty out there in some cases. I am not willing to comment on how much it is because I really don't know."
The capture and raid were two successes for the Americans after a day in which US soldiers guarding coalition headquarters in Baghdad opened fire on a group of unarmed protesters, killing two Iraqis. It was the latest blunder by American forces trying to impose calm on the troubled city.
Stone-throwing by the crowd rapidly turned to bloodshed when an American jeep was attacked outside the former Republican Guard palace by up to 2,000 demobbed soldiers from the Iraqi army who had gathered to protest at the cancellation of their wages earlier this month.
Eyewitnesses recounted how US soldiers in the vehicle, which was being beaten on its roof by fists, first began firing into the air before shooting into the crowd, leaving two dead and several injured.
It was the first time troops have fired on any of the noisy protests staged in Baghdad in the 10 weeks since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein. Troops killed 15 Iraqis in clashes with crowds in the city of Falluja in April.
There were no American casualties, although in a separate incident, a US soldier was killed and another wounded by gunfire from a car passing the petrol station in central Baghdad.
A military spokesman said: "Although we regret the incident our rules of engagement clearly state that if soldiers consider their lives to be in danger they are entitled to shoot. If a large enough rock is thrown it can kill a man.
"The Iraqis have got a lot to learn about how to demonstrate peacefully but we hope they will return in the future to exercise their right to freedom of expression."
But at the scene of the shooting, which had been a popular venue for the airing of complaints against the Coalition Provisional Authority, protesters accused American soldiers of an over-reaction to the events.
By a congealed pool of blood where his friend was shot - one of the Iraqis later to die of his injuries - former Sergeant Hassan Khalaf said: "There was some stone throwing, but this was by only by a few uneducated people. Most of us were here to make the point that we have families and have had no income since the war.
"We understand that the Americans are scared of violence but it is wrong to begin shooting at innocent people."
The shooting compounds a difficult week for the American administration in Iraq after accusations by a senior British official that the organisation was chaotic and lacking strategic direction against a backdrop of continuing violence aimed at US soldiers.
The plight of Iraq's thousands of demobbed soldiers is case in point. The Iraqi army was disbanded three weeks ago with the promise that a new "de-baathicated" peace corps would be set up to replace it but plans for which remain months away from implementation.
With electricity and water supplies still erratic, and the streets of the capital unsafe at night despite a crackdown on gun markets and a series of dawn raids on suspected militants, Anti-American sentiment is growing in the summer heat.
An American official in the reconstruction effort said: "The shooting outside CPA sends out all the wrong messages to the Iraqi people. We're here to protect people and help them rebuild their country.
"In Fulluja the shooting of a largely peaceful demonstration became a touchstone for resentment against the American occupation in that town. We've come close to creating the same thing here today."
Additional reporting by Reuters