US net former Iraq intelligence director Hijazi

10.00am

BAGHDAD - US forces have netted a former top Iraqi spy hours after capturing Tareq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's best-known apologist.

A US official said today that Farouk Hijazi was detained near Iraq's border with Syria.

He was director of external operations for Iraq's intelligence agency in the mid-1990s, when it allegedly attempted to assassinate former President George Bush, father of the current US leader, during a visit to Kuwait.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said of Hijazi at a Washington briefing: "He is significant. We think he could be interesting but I would rather not give any details."

Other captive leaders of the collapsed Iraqi government, including Tareq Aziz, are being questioned by US intelligence teams and could face criminal charges, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said former Deputy Prime Minister Aziz, who surrendered to the US military in Iraq on Thursday, and at least 11 other of the 55 "most wanted" members of the Saddam Hussein government were now in US hands.

But he ruled out sending those or other Iraqi prisoners to a military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the Pentagon is holding more than 600 "detainees" in its war on terror, most captured in Afghanistan during the US military campaign against al Qaeda and the Taleban government.

"The lawyers will figure that out. I don't have to worry about that stuff," Rumsfeld told a news briefing when asked how many of the top captives would be classed as prisoners of war and perhaps even face charges related to acts during Saddam's repressive rule.

"You can be certain that the people who we have reason to believe have information are being interrogated by inter-agency teams. And they are in fact providing information that's useful," the secretary said.

Other defence officials said the team includes military and civilian experts.

He predicted that other former Iraqi leaders in a deck of 55 "most wanted" cards distributed by the US military in Iraq would be captured in the days and weeks ahead. Aziz was number 43 of the 55.

But the secretary said he was unsure how they might be prosecuted.

"Should the Iraqi people do it? Should some international organisation do it? Should the United States do it?" he said. "I think probably the latter is not our first choice, but that's going to be decided at a higher level than this" department, he said.

"What we do know is that there are people who in large measure have information that we need," Rumsfeld told reporters.

"We need that information so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country. We need that information so that we can track down the terrorist links between Saddam Hussein's regime and various terrorist networks and we need it ... to eliminate the influence of the Baath Party in that country."

Also among those being held are Saddam's director of military intelligence, air defence chief, a former senior member of the Revolutionary Command Council and his deputy chief of tribal affairs.

Aziz has long been a tough, eloquent and loyal spokesman for Saddam.

The only Christian in the top ranks of the former Iraqi leadership, Aziz was designated the eight of spades in the US card pack of wanted figures.

"He clearly is a very senior person, and was in that regime. And we intend to discuss with him whatever it is he's willing to discuss with us," Rumsfeld said.

"Was he in the military? Every time I was ever with him he always wore a camouflage uniform and a pistol on his hip. Does that make him military? I don't know."

Rumsfeld said that the United States was still holding about 7,000 prisoners of war in Iraq -- most of them ordinary troops -- and that hundreds were being freed to go home.

"With respect to Guantanamo, the answer is no," he said when asked if any of the senior or other prisoners might be sent to the US naval base in Cuba. "Could it change? Possibly. But my preference is not to ... and I would discourage doing that."

Both Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, rejected suggestions that some juveniles were being held unfairly in Guantanamo.

"I would say that despite their age, these are very, very dangerous people," Myers said. "Some have killed. Some have stated they're going to kill again. So they may be juveniles. But they're not on a little league team anywhere. They're on a major league team and it's a terrorist team."

Herald Feature: Iraq