BAGHDAD, Aug 19: Coalition forces took custody on Tuesday of former Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam Hussein’s hawkish right-hand man and the most senior member of the ousted president’s inner circle yet killed or captured.

“Taha Yassin Ramadan was captured,” a US military official said, giving no further details.

US President George Bush hailed the capture of Ramadan, ranked number 20 among the 55 most wanted members of the former Iraqi regime.

“I’m really pleased that we’ve captured the vice-president. Slowly but surely we’ll find who we need to find. It’s just a matter of time,” President Bush told reporters in Washington.

“I don’t know the facts of where he was, what was going on,” Mr Bush added.

A senior official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) earlier said Ramadan was captured by Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Mosul on Monday and turned over to US forces.

“PUK fighters captured Taha Yassin Ramadan on Monday at 1500 local time (1100 GMT) in Mosul,” the official said in Arbil on condition of anonymity, adding that “he has been turned over to American forces.”

Another PUK official in Sulaimaniya, where Jalal Talabani’s party is based, also confirmed the arrest of Ramadan, himself a Mosul native.

Iraqi army colonel Maher al-Assi, 41, witnessed Ramadan’s arrest in the residential Al-Wahda district of Mosul.

“I was in the street chatting with a friend when two cars pulled up at each side of the house” where Ramadan was hiding out, Assi said.

“Two men got out of each car. The four men were wearing traditional clothing and were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

“The four men entered the building and came out 15 minutes later with an old man who looked like Ramadan,” Assi said, adding that had he known it was the former vice president, he would have attempted to stop them arresting him.

Ramadan, who became vice-president in 1991 and was a member of the powerful Revolution Command Council, is the 10 of diamonds on the pack of playing cards issued by American forces.

His arrest brings to 38 the number of wanted former Iraqi officials captured or killed since Saddam was ousted. However, with three-quarters of the most wanted list captured or killed, the guerrilla insurgency against US soldiers shows no signs of diminishing.

He has been a member of the Baath party since it seized power in 1968, and has held various senior positions.—AFP