U.S. Says Captures Saddam Guard Chief
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces have captured the commander of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, number 11 on a list of Washington's 55 most wanted Iraqis, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said on Wednesday.Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez did not identify the person who was taken into custody by name, referring only to his number on the list.
But a Central Command statement later identified the person as Barzan Abd Al-Ghafur Sulayman Majid Al-Tikriti, Saddam's Special Republican Guard Commander.
Barzan was number 11 on lists previously provided by the U.S. authorities. He was also listed as the Queen of Hearts in a U.S. deck of cards on the most wanted Iraqis.
The latest detention brought to 37 the number of arrests out of the 55 Iraqis U.S.-led forces want detained.
Sanchez declined to say where Barzan was seized.
The detention was announced a day after U.S. troops killed Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay, in a firefight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The two sons were listed as numbers two and three on the U.S. list. Saddam is number one, and his whereabouts remain unknown.