US holding Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister

3.00pm

BAGHDAD - The United States said Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, the internationally best-known face of Saddam Hussein's toppled inner circle, has surrendered to US forces and the business of setting up a new Iraqi government in Baghdad will start next week.

Aziz, No 43 on a US list of 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's ruling elite, gave himself up to US troops in Baghdad. He last appeared in public on March 19, the eve of the war, after rumors that he had been shot or had defected.

"He turned himself in," a US official, said on condition of anonymity. "He was a major regime figure for a long, long time. He was the public face of the regime for a long time. He was close to Saddam for many years."

The silver-haired, cigar-smoking Aziz, 67, made full use of his excellent English to play a starring diplomatic role in the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War when he was foreign minister.

US President George W Bush responded to shouted questions about Aziz's fate with a smile and a thumbs up sign.

Aziz, who had vowed to die in a long and bloody battle with the United States on the eve of the war, became the 12th of the 55 individuals on a US wanted list to be taken into custody, defence officials said. Three others are believed dead.

Earlier, the US administrator in Iraq said the formation of a new Iraqi government would start next week.

Speaking after talks with some of Iraq's prospective new leaders, retired US general Jay Garner told a Baghdad news conference: "I think you'll begin to see the governmental process start next week, by the end of next week. It will have Iraqi faces on it. It will be governed by the Iraqis."

Bush underlined this commitment saying Washington was not about to impose a new government but instead would help build a democratic government "of, by and for the Iraqi people".

"We'll stay as long as it takes to complete our mission. And then all our forces are going to leave Iraq and come home," Bush said in a speech in Lima, Ohio, at a plant that manufactured many of the Abrams battle tanks used in Iraq.

Asked in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw if democracy could take as long as two years, Bush replied: "It could ... or less. Who knows?"

Iraqis who attended the meeting in Baghdad expressed impatience about the failure of US forces to restore essential services and law and order in the battered capital.

As part of the process of replacing Saddam's government, a number of Iraqi political groupings are to meet US officials in Baghdad on Monday, following an initial meeting near the southern city of Nassiriya last week.

In addition to Aziz, more Saddam aides were in custody on Thursday including Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti, commander of Iraq's air defences, No 10 on the US list.

Another top figure in custody is military intelligence chief Zuhayr Talib Abd al Sattar al Naqib, who gave himself up in Baghdad. General Naqib figures on the US list in 21st place.

Saddam and his two sons Uday and Qusay are missing and no weapons of mass destruction -- the reason the United States and Britain launched the war on March 20 -- have been found.

In the NBC interview, Bush said there was some evidence suggesting Saddam might be dead after being targeted by US air strikes.

"The people will wonder if Saddam Hussein is dead or not. There's some evidence that, that says that he -- suggests he might be," Bush said. "We would never make that declaration until we were more certain, but the person who helped direct the attacks believes that Saddam at a very minimum was severely wounded."

In Ohio, Bush raised the possibility for the first time that Iraq had destroyed or moved alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"It's going to take time to find them," Bush said, adding:

"But we know he had them, and whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth."

Aziz was knowledgeable about policy decisions made by Saddam's government. "He may not know precisely where the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) is hidden, but he probably knows generally about their WMD programme," said a US official.

In a sign that some normality is returning in Iraq, a US reconstruction official said oil production was expected to resume in the north in the next two days. It has already restarted in southern Iraq although the oil is not for export.

The venue of Garner's meeting in Baghdad was ringed by tanks and other armored vehicles following anti-American demonstrations by Iraqis demanding that the US-led troops who ousted Saddam get out of the country.

Iraq's majority Shi'ites, some of whose leaders went to Iran's Islamic republic to escape Saddam's repression, have been prominent in protests against a continued US presence, raising alarm in Washington over Tehran's influence.

The Shi'ites showed their strength and organisational ability this week when they held a long banned pilgrimage in the holy city of Kerbala, attended by over a million faithful.

Iran on Thursday rejected US suggestions that it was interfering in Iraq and said it was not seeking to promote the political role of Shi'ites in its western neighbour.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq