Baghdad, July 09: Saddam Hussein's former interior minister and a top level member of his Ba’ath Party have been taken into custody, the latest arrests from a list of 55 most wanted fugitives from the ousted regime, the military said today. Mizban Khadr Hadi, a high-ranking member of the Ba’ath Party regional command and revolutionary command council and Mahmud Diab al-Ahmed, the former interior minister, were taken into custody yesterday, according to a statement from Tampa, Florida-based US Central Command.
Hadi, number 23 on the US list of 55 most wanted Iraqis from Saddam's regime, turned himself in the capital yesterday. Al-Ahmed, number 29 on the list, was captured the same day, the Central Command statement said. It gave no further details. "Coalition forces will continue to work at apprehending former members of the Saddam Hussein regime," Central Command said.
Thirty-four out of the 55 people on the most wanted list are now in custody, but none of the top three – Saddam Hussein and his sons Qusai and Odai. The most recent arrest came June 17, when Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam's top aide, surrendered after informants' tips led US forces to his hideout in Saddam's hometown, Tikrit.
Just before the war began, al-Ahmed was named commander of one of four military regions for the defense of Iraq. He held a news conference on the eve of the conflict wearing a bulletproof vest in which he tucked a big knife and three ammunition magazines, and also brandished a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Bureau Report