Regime's spy chief seized

Four more key members of Saddam Hussein's regime have been captured by American forces in Iraq.

They include the former head of Iraqi military intelligence and the head of the air defence forces. In a shoot-out in Baghdad, US special forces also seized the chief of the American desk of the Mukhabarat, Saddam's spy network.

Unlike the others, Salim Said Khalaf Al-Jumayli was not included in the "most wanted" deck of cards issued by US Central Command this month. He is seen as a key figure by US intelligence officials who believe he can lead them to Iraqi spies still under cover inside America.

They will also want to ask him about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. With nearly half the 1,000 sites suspected of concealing biological and chemical weapons now searched, no trace has so far been found.

A number of Iraqi scientists have said in recent days that they were ordered to destroy suspicious equipment and materials or hide it in their homes in advance of UN weapons inspectors, but none was involved in military research.

Of the remaining three captured yesterday, the most senior is former air defence chief Muzahim Saab Hasan al-Tikriti, the Queen of Diamonds in the pack of cards and number 10 on the wanted list. General Hasan is the highest ranking Iraqi commander arrested so far.

General Zuhayr Talib Abd al Sattar al Naqib, the head of military intelligence since last year also surrendered to US officials in Baghdad. He was the Seven of Hearts and the 21st most wanted, but had given several recent interviews before his arrest, insisting he has no reason to apologise for being a member of the regime and claiming he did not always agree with the dictator.

Also captured was the former trade minister, Muhammad Mahdi al Salih, number 48 in the pack. The latest arrests bring the number of senior figures being held to 11, out of the 55 being sought by US commanders. They have also declared Ali Hasan al-Majid, better known as Chemical Ali, officially dead.

Al-Majid, the King of Spades and a cousin of Saddam, was killed in an air strike near Basra towards the end of the war. He was responsible for the brutal suppression of Kurdish rebels after the first Gulf war, using chemical weapons to gas entire villages.

Two others on the American list are also believed to be dead. A Pentagon spokesman said last night that the members of Saddam's regime were "collapsing like a house of cards". American officials have not revealed where the captives, who include Saddam's sole surviving soninlaw and his brother, are being held and questioned, but it is thought to be in the Middle East.