A top official from Saddam Hussein's regime, a man said to be a close confidant of the leader himself, was under arrest Friday after being taken into custody in the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military said, according to AP.
An announcement at the U.S. Army's V Corps headquarters said Mizban Khadr Hadi, a member of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council and a top Baath Party leader, was captured Thursday in the area of Baghdad controlled by the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division.
The announcement also said Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih, the former minister of trade, had been arrested Thursday as well. But the U.S. military in Washington had already reported his arrest on April 23. The U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar, could not immediately reconcile the discrepancy.
Both men were depicted on the "deck of cards" issued by the U.S. military to track Iraq's most-wanted regime figures. Hadi, the nine of hearts, is No. 41 on the U.S. coalition's list of the 55 most-wanted figures.
Hadi was among Saddam's most trusted aides, who were elevated by the Iraqi leader in March to command the country's four military regions in a bid to delegate command and strengthen the defense of the country against the American invasion that came later that month.
Hadi was placed in charge of the area that included the Shiite Muslim holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
In May 2001, Hadi was put in charge of the party's Farmers' Central Office. Hadi was reportedly close to Saddam and had been one of his advisers, especially on Shiite affairs, since the early 1980s.
He had been a minister without porfolio since June 1982 and before that was governor of Najaf. He was decorated by Saddam for his services during the 1991 Gulf War and the month-long Shiite rebellion that followed Iraq's defeat. (Albawaba.com)
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