The minister, who figures in 45th position on a list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, "was captured by Iraqi police in Baghdad and turned over to the First Marine Division" Friday, Centcom said.

He was the fifth person captured on the Centcom playing card list -- where he figures as the eight of diamonds.

The four people on the list already seized were all captured within the past week.

Former intelligence chief and half-brother to Saddam Hussein, Barzan al-Tikriti was captured in Baghdad on Wednesday during a special forces operation with support from the US Marines.

His brother, former interior minister Watban Ibrahim Hasan was arrested on April 13.

US special forces captured top Baath Party official, Samir al-Aziz al-Najim, on Thursday night, according to the US military. He was listed as regional command chairman for east Baghdad of the ruling party.

On April 12, Lieutenant General Amer al-Saadi, Saddam's chief scientific adviser, turned himself in to coalition forces.

Centcom officers have expressed confidence that now that the war is virtually over, they will receive an increasing number of tip-offs on the whereabouts of top officials of Saddam's now ousted regime.

But they admit they have no clue about the location of Saddam and his sons Uday and Qusay, or even whether they are alive or dead.

Centcom also announced on Saturday the surrender of a member of the Abu Nidal Organization, a Palestinian militant group which figures on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations.

"Khala Khadr al-Salahat, a member of the Abul Nidal terrorist organization, surrendered to the Marines of First Marine Division in Baghdad April 18," Centcom said.

"As the Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) said when he outlined the military objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom, one of our key objectives is to search for, capture and drive out terrorists who have found safe haven in Iraq," the statement said without giving further details.

Also known as the Fatah Revolutionary Council, the Abu Nidal Organization is held responsible for a string of assassinations and plane hijacks as well as 1985 attacks on Rome and Vienna airports.

SPACE.WIRE