The INC located Aziz, the former deputy prime minister who was long Iraq's chief voice on the international scene, and passed on the information to US forces who captured him overnight, Haidar Ahmad, of the INC's London press office, told AFP.

The INC, operating through the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) paramilitary group, also helped the Americans trace and capture Iraqi air defense force commander Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti, whose arrest was announced by the US military on Wednesday, Ahmad said.

He said that like Aziz, Muzahim al-Tikriti was found at a house in Baghdad, adding that it was located in the Al-Ghazaliyah neighborhood.

Both men were on the US list of 55 most wanted Iraqi officials, 13 of whom are now in US hands, though Aziz is seen as the biggest catch so far because of his prominence on the world stage for more than two decades.

The exact circumstances under which Aziz landed in US hands remained uncertain Friday, with the US Central Command saying he had surrendered to coalition forces overnight and the White House welcoming his "capture."

The INC's Ahmad said Aziz had been captured at his sister's home in Baghdad.

According to neighbors who spoke to AFP in Baghdad Friday, US tanks and crack troops wearing night-vision goggles swooped on a posh neighborhood under cover of darkness when they came to take away Aziz.

The neighbors described a lightning raid on a house they said was that of Aziz's sister-in-law which ended with several people being driven away in luxury cars. They said they believed Aziz was among them.

One neighbor said he thought Aziz had negotiated his surrender because not a single shot was fired during the incident.

The INC, headed by Ahmad Chalabi, had earlier said it was behind the surrender of another wanted official. It said Sunday it had persuaded Saddam's son-in-law, Jamal Mustafa Abdullah Sultan, to turn himself in.

On Monday, the INC said the FIF had captured Mohammad Hamza al-Zubaidi, a former member of the Revolutionary Command Council, the decision-making body of Saddam's regime, and turned him over to US troops.

The United States has confirmed the detention of both men.

SPACE.WIRE