Two more of Saddam's henchmen in custody

Two more key members of Saddam Hussein’s regime were in Allied custody tonight as the hunt for his chief henchmen continued.

Saddam’s finance minister Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi was caught by the revived Baghdad police force and handed over to US marines.

Another leading figure, Emad Husayn Abdullah al-Ani, who is accused of being the mastermind behind Saddam’s nerve agent programme, turned himself in to US forces.

Al-Azzawi, who also served as one of Saddam’s deputy prime ministers, featured as the eight of diamonds in a pack of cards which shows the 55 most wanted Iraqis.

He is the fifth of the 55 to be caught in what has become one of the world’s biggest ever manhunts.

A military source said: “The cards are falling, we have five so far and before long we’ll have a very good hand.

“Some of these have very recognisable faces and there is no reason now for the Iraqi people to be afraid to point them out.

“They can’t run forever and any that aren’t already dead, we’ll get them.”

US officials hope al-Azzawi will lead them to an estimated 20 billion dollars salted away by Saddam and his family in offshore accounts and front companies.

They have already captured one of Saddam’s half brothers Barzan al-Tikriti, who spent 10 years in Geneva hiding away the former dictator’s billions, and he is believed to be co-operating.

Al-Ani was not on the list of 55 but was still regarded as a prize catch.

He is accused of developing the nerve agent VX, one of the world’s deadliest chemical weapons.

The top scientist was head of research and development at Iraq’s Muthanna State Establishment, a key chemical weapons laboratory, and later was in charge of the Fallujah 2 chemical weapons plant, military officials said.

In 1998 the US accused al-Ani of having links to the Shifa Pharmaceuticals plant in Khartoum, Sudan which they claimed also had links to al-Qaida.

The US said the plant was making a chemical needed for VX and President Bill Clinton launched a cruise missile strike against it.

Plant officials and the Sudanese government denied the facility was involved in chemical weapons work.

As US and British forces continued to track down members of Saddam’s regime Arab nations bordering Iraq demanded the “occupation forces” withdraw to let the UN take over rebuilding of the country.

The call came at a meeting of foreign ministers from eight countries in Saudi Arabia as the US and Britain faced growing anger at their continued presence in Iraq.

Most Arab countries oppose the US plan to lead an interim administration of Iraq, with Iraqis initially in advisory roles.

They have instead called for a government chosen by Iraqis themselves under UN supervision.

Ministers also denounced US threats against Syria which it accuses of having chemical weapons and harbouring Saddam’s henchmen.

Elsewhere in the city, a US Army patrol reported finding an estimated £417 million in US currency in an area where senior Baath Party officials lived.

US marines were pulling out of the Iraqi capital to be replaced by regular Army soldiers as part of the move to return the city to normal.

America, meanwhile, was preparing for the return of seven former prisoners of war who were flying back to a heroes’ welcome from Ramstein airbase in Germany.