BAGHDAD, June 18: US forces in Iraq have captured Saddam Hussein’s most trusted secretary Abid Hamid Mahmud, US military officials said on Wednesday, in a major boost for their efforts to hunt down the ousted president.

He is the highest ranking member of Saddam’s inner circle to be seized so far, amid an extensive and ongoing operation, Desert Scorpion, by US forces intent on crushing remaining resistance from diehard Saddam loyalists.

US Central Command said simply that Mahmud, a distant cousin of Saddam and responsible for his security, was captured on Monday “in Iraq,” while a military spokesman added that no further details on the capture were due to be released.

The arrest came amid a series of US raids in the area around Tikrit, considered Saddam’s hometown, north of Baghdad. The two hail from the same village, Aujah, just outside Tikrit itself.

When in power, Saddam was rarely seen without Mahmud, considered his most trusted adviser, who shadowed the president and was charged with handing down his orders to Iraqi ministries and ensuring his personal safety.

With his signature beret and moustache, the former advisor was number four on a US list of 55 most wanted members of Saddam’s regime, outranked only by Saddam’s two sons, Uday and Qusay, and the ousted president himself.—AFP