US officials said Tariq Aziz surrendered overnight but have not confirmed that the former deputy prime minister gave himself up at his sister-in-law's house in the Zayuna area in the east of the Iraqi capital.

Neighbors described a lightning raid on the house which ended with several people being driven away in luxury cars. They said they believed among them was Aziz, the highest member of Saddam's regime to fall into US hands so far.

"The soldiers came with tanks and Humvees. They crossed over my neighbor's property. They climbed over the wall of the house and through the date palms," said Mohammed Hillal, 34, a computer programmer who lives opposite.

"They arrived at about 11:30 (1930 GMT) and were gone by midnight. They were very, very quiet. There were people here guarding the area and they didn't hear anything," he said.

Many areas of Baghdad now post security guards on street corners at night following a wave of looting by mobs after the city fell to US forces on April

"The US soldiers used night-vision equipment. The electricity went down and some of the phones went down. After they brought a GMC jeep with black windows and a white BMW and some people got into them through the gate," Hillal said.

"I tried to talk with them. They assured me there would be no bombing while they were here. If I was scared of anything, I think it was the machine guns."

He said he believed Aziz had negotiated his surrender because not a single shot was fired during the incident.

"I think he negotiated with them and surrendered himself. Maybe he phoned them and contacted them. He is a Christian so maybe he contacted the Vatican, because his last visit abroad was to the Vatican," Hillal said.

CNN television news earlier quoted relatives as saying Aziz had organized his surrender to ensure the process was dignified. They said he had recently suffered two heart attacks and that they were worried about his failing health.

Aziz's luxury villa in the Jadria neighborhood on the east of the Tigris was looted a day after Baghdad fell.

Hillal added that he was certain none of the people in the neighborhood had given Aziz up to the Americans, even if some were not fond of the iron-fisted regime.

"It wasn't a big problem for Tariq Aziz to be here. Maybe he was bad. But no one here called the Americans. It's against our religion. We have a saying from our prophet telling us to take care of our seventh neighbor," he said.

Aziz was 43rd on the list of the 55 Iraqi officials most wanted by the Americans. He was one of the best known figures in Iraq, and US officials described his capture as a major blow to the remnants of the old regime.

His urbane manner and excellent command of English helped him rise to the heights of power. He played a leading role in making Iraq's case at the United Nations and other international arenas in the 12 years since the 1991 Gulf War.

Appointed foreign minister in 1983, Aziz was largely credited with securing Western support for Iraq against Iran, notably from France.

But as the only Christian in the government he was not considered a member of Saddam's innermost circle.

SPACE.WIRE