US forces question top Saddam aide

US forces were today questioning the man who may lead them to Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction hidden in Iraq.

Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, the toppled dictator’s top aide and secretary, was fourth on Washington’s Most Wanted list – behind only Saddam and his sons Uday and Qusay.

He controlled access to the deposed president and was one of the few people he is said to have trusted completely, a US official said.

A distant cousin of Saddam, Mahmud is also the ace of diamonds on the US deck of cards portraying leaders of Saddam’s regime.

In the 1990s, he was placed in charge of several security portfolios, including responsibility over places Iraq has been accused of hiding weapons programmes.

US officials have said they want to try him for war crimes or crimes against humanity.

It was unclear whether his capture was related to raids near Saddam’s home town of Tikrit, where US troops found millions of pounds in various currencies and captured one of Saddam’s bodyguards and up to 50 other people believed to be tied to the former regime’s security or intelligence forces.

Saddam loyalists and non-Iraqi “holy warriors” are being blamed for increasing attacks against US occupation forces.

A mortar shell slammed into a coalition humanitarian aid office north of Baghdad yesterday, killing an Iraqi and wounding 12 others.

No Americans were hurt in the attack in Samarra, but it was the third on mortar attack on coalition facilities since major combat was declared officially over on May 1.

In a shift of tactics this week, insurgents have also started targeting fellow Iraqis deemed to be too close to the US-led occupation forces.

:: Meanwhile, mourners in Baghdad’s Horreya district fired assault rifles in the air as they brought home the body of one of two men shot dead outside the gates of the US administration headquarters yesterday.

The shootings took place during another demonstration to protest against the lack of jobs. Stones were thrown at US troops guarding the compound, Saddam’s former Republican Palace.

The capital Baghdad has been growing increasingly tense since Sunday, when coalition forces began house-to-house searches for banned weapons and suspected activists trying to undermine the US-led occupation.