US forces have captured a former senior Baath Party leader who is number eight on Central Command's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis.
A brief Central Command statement said Mr Aziz Saleh al-Numan "is now in custody of coalition forces". He is the highest-ranking person on the list of 55 to be taken into custody so far.
Mr al-Numan was identified as the Baath Party's regional command chairman responsible for west Baghdad. He also is a former governor of Karbala and Najaf, according to the Central Command statement.
The highest-ranked Iraqi from the list of 55 in custody prior to Mr al-Numan's capture was Mr Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, a former deputy prime minister and former member of the Baath Party regional command. He was taken into custody April 20th.
In June 2002 the anti-Saddam group known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq said that Mr al-Numan was wounded in his arms and legs in an assassination attempt the previous month in the southern city of Amara. It maintains Mr al-Numan was responsible for "vicious crimes against our citizens".
Today's capture in Baghdad brings to 25 the number of Iraqis from the top-55 list who are in coalition custody, according to the Pentagon's count.
AP