U.S. forces have captured Saddam Hussein's presidential secretary, U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday. Shown as the ace of diamonds in the deck of "most wanted" cards issued by the Pentagon, Gen. Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti is the most senior former Saddam official captured so far.

Bush administration sources described him as the No. 2 man in the Iraqi regime. As presidential secretary, Mahmud was responsible for Saddam's personal security and would be the person most likely to know about Saddam's whereabouts or his fate.

He is being interrogated, the sources told NBC News, but it was unclear whether he was providing any valuable information or actionable intelligence.

Mahmud was also in charge of all Iraqi defense and intelligence issues. The sources said he would know more about every aspect of the Iraqi regime than any other Iraqi official except Saddam - including the whereabouts or status of any weapons of mass destruction.

In a brief statement, Central Command said only that Mahmud was captured Monday in Iraq. The sources said he was caught by a U.S. military-CIA operation.

Before the war, Mahmud was usually seen with Saddam when the latter appeared on Iraqi newscasts.

Senior U.S. intelligence officials had described him as one of only four members of Saddam's inner circle, the others being Saddam, his son Qusai and Izzat Ibrahim, the vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council.

Saddam and his two sons are the three other "aces" on the most-wanted list.

U.S. officials have said they want to try Mahmud for war crimes or crimes against humanity for activities associated with his senior position.

A distant cousin of Saddam, Mahmud in the 1990s was put in charge of several security portfolios, including responsibility over places Iraq has been accused of hiding weapons programs. He started his career as a non-commissioned officer in Saddam's bodyguard, eventually being promoted to lieutenant general.

TIED TO RAIDS?

It is unclear whether Mahmud's capture was related to U.S. raids near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. U.S. troops raided two farmhouses and found US$8.5 million, 300 million to 400 million Iraqi dinars and an undetermined amount of British pounds and Euros, said Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division. The troops also found more than $1 million worth of gems and jewels, he said.

The troops captured one of Saddam's bodyguards and as many as 50 other people believed to be tied to Saddam's security or intelligence forces or paramilitary groups, Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video news conference from his headquarters in Tikrit. The troops also found Russian-made night-vision goggles and other military equipment, as well as various Saddam paraphernalia.

"I believe over the next three to four days, you will hear much more about the number of senior Iraqi individuals we have detained here over the last couple of days," Odierno said. He did not mention Mahmud by name.

Odierno said he did not know whether the cash was intended to pay bounties for attacks on U.S. troops or to provide the Saddam loyalists with luxuries while they were in hiding.

AIR FORCE CAPTURE

His capture follows that Saturday of former Iraqi air force commander Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti, who was No. 17 on the most-wanted list.

Shalah is from Tikrit and was close to Saddam's family. He was one of the Iraqi military commanders seen meeting regularly with Saddam before the U.S.-led war started March 20.

The Iraqi air force played no role during the war, and its airplanes - which were technologically inferior to the U.S. and British warplanes - were found hidden in farms and fields under canopies and palm leaves and in barns.

Since the coalition defeated Iraqi forces, many of the aircraft since have been looted or have fallen into disrepair.

MORE THAN HALF CAUGHT

The U.S.-led coalition has detained more than half of its 55 most-wanted Iraqi leaders, including high-level military leaders, senior members of Saddam's Baath Party and top scientists who were reported to have worked in Iraq's alleged chemical, biological, nuclear and missile programs.

Many on the list are believed to have gone into hiding; some may have fled the country. The highest-priority target, U.S. officials have said, is Saddam himself, who some U.S. intelligence officials believe survived the war and is hiding in Iraq.

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