Saddam's defence chief surrenders to US troops

Iraq's former defence minister, seen at Saddam Hussein's side in what is thought to have been the ousted dictator's last public appearance as Baghdad fell, surrendered to US forces yesterday.

Sultan Hashim Ahmed, number 27 on Washington's wanted list of Iraqi fugitives, turned himself over to US troops in the northern city of Mosul and was met by Major General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division.

News of the capture was a boost for US forces in Iraq after they suffered their deadliest ambush for weeks overnight.

Guerillas near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit killed three soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division and wounded two.

A large explosion sent a plume of smoke over central Baghdad yesterday evening but Iraqi police and US officers on the scene said there had been no casualties from what they suspected was a roadside bomb attack.

An Iraqi fire engine sprayed water onto a steaming crater beside a main road near the Tigris River in Baghdad. Several police and American soldiers were on the scene and tried to keep crowds of Iraqis away. A US military policeman at the scene said it appeared a roadside bomb had been detonated but nobody was injured.

US soldiers near Tikrit also opened fire on a car carrying an Italian diplomat who holds a senior position in Iraq's US-led administration, killing his Iraqi translator in the latest in a series of fatal blunders by American troops.

Washington hopes the capture of Saddam's defence minister will close the net on the deposed former president, who remains on the run despite a $25 million price on his head. The US Army said Ahmed had been brought to Baghdad for questioning.

The surrender was negotiated through an intermediary after Petraeus sent a letter to Ahmed last month offering him "a simple yet honourable alternative to a life on the run".

The mediator, local human rights official Dawood Bagistani, told a news conference he had received assurances that Ahmed would be removed from the list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis and would not be charged with war crimes. But the US Army said only that he would be treated "decently and humanely".

US officers in Tikrit said 60 suspected guerillas had been captured during a night-long battle that followed the attack on American troops. The ambush brought to 76 the number of US soldiers killed in guerilla attacks since May 1.

"We were involved in direct firefights throughout the night," said Colonel James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division at the US base in Tikrit. "We feel confident we now have under our control the individuals who attacked our patrol."

Also on Thursday evening, a car carrying Pietro Cordone, an Italian diplomat who is the senior adviser on culture for the US-led authority, was shot at by US troops near Tikrit.

Cordone, who has been leading efforts to recover priceless antiquities looted from museums and archaeological sites since Saddam's fall, was unhurt, Italian Foreign Ministry sources said. But his Iraqi interpreter was killed. US military sources said the car was shot at after it repeatedly tried to overtake a US convoy. Soldiers warned the car several times not to overtake, the sources said, and opened fire when they thought the vehicle was trying to ram them.

Many Iraqis accuse US troops of being too quick to open fire and failing to follow rules of engagement. Human rights groups say many civilians have been killed. The United States says it keeps no figures on civilian casualties.

Last week, the US Army apologised after soldiers in the tense town of Falluja killed 10 Iraqi security guards and a Jordanian in a battle that was later described as an accident.

Ahmed's surrender means 40 of the 55 most-wanted former senior Iraqis have now been declared killed or in US custody.

Although regarded as a figurehead in the Iraqi army while real power rested with Saddam, Ahmed can be seen with Saddam waving to crowds in footage said to have been shot on April 9, the day Baghdad fell to invading US troops.