US catches another Saddam half-brother

7.30am - By HASSAN HAFIDH

BAGHDAD - US forces have captured a second half-brother of Saddam Hussein, ex-intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, in a Baghdad raid.

Reputed to be Saddam's "banker in the West" while a diplomat in Geneva, Barzan was only the third person detained from a US list of 55 Iraqis wanted dead or alive. He joins another Saddam half-brother and the fallen president's top scientific adviser.

"If we don't find every one of them, but we can account that the regime is not in place, then we have succeeded," US Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said of the list of 55.

There was scant trace of Saddam or his sons, though two Arabic newspapers said Baghdadis reported seeing the deposed Iraqi president hours before US forces took over the city.


- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war