US denies capture of top Saddam deputy in raid

AMERICAN troops carried out a raid near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday but a military spokesman denied that a top former deputy of Saddam Hussein was captured during the operation.

A member of Iraq's governing council said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri the top Iraqi fugitive after Saddam was the target of the raid. The Americans have pointed to al-Douri as a co-ordinator of the insurgency against US forces, and last week offered an

€8.25 million reward for information leading to his arrest.