Iraq's most wanted leaders: US list

AS-SALIYAH, Qatar April 20 (AFP) - The US military on Sunday announced the capture of Iraq's former higher education and scientific research minister Human abd al-Khaliq abd al-Ghafar. Centcom said he was taken into custody on Saturday and was listed 54th on its list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis.

He is also the four of hearts in a pack of playing cards distributed to senior US officers in Iraq. The cards feature photographs and descriptions of 52 of the most-wanted. Three of the wanted are not included in the pack of cards. The following is the list and a cross-reference to the playing cards:

- 1: Saddam Hussein -- president. Ace of spades.

- 2: Qusay -- younger son of Saddam and head of Special Security Organisation. Ace of clubs.

- 3: Uday -- elder son of Saddam Hussein, head of Feyadeen militia. Ace of hearts.

- 4: Abid Hamid Mahmud -- presidential secretary. Ace of diamonds.

- 5: Ali Hasan al-Majid -- presidential advisor listed as KIA (killed in action). King of spades.

- 6: Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri -- Revolution Command Council vice chairman. King of clubs.

- 7: Hani al-Latif Tilfah -- Special Security Organisation director. King of hearts.

- 8: Kamal Mustafa Abdullah -- secretary of the Republican Guard. Queen of clubs.

- 9: Barzan al-Ghafur Sulayman Majid -- Special Republican Guard commander. Queen of hearts.

- 10: Muzahim Saab Hasan -- Air Defence Forces commander. Queen of diamonds.

- 11: Ibrahim Ahmad al-Sattar Muhammad -- armed forces chief of staff. Jack of spades.

- 12: Sayf al-Din Fulayyih Hasan -- Republican Guard chief of staff. Jack of clubs.

- 13: Rafi Abd al-Latif Tilfah - Director of General Security. Jack of  hearts.

- 14: Tahir Jalil Habbush -- Iraqi intelligence service. Jack of diamonds.

- 15: Hamid Raja Shalah -- air force commander. Ten of spades.

- 16: Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh -- deputy prime minister. Ten of hearts.

- 17: Aziz Salih al-Numan -- Baath Party chairman, west Baghdad. King of diamonds.

- 18: Muhammad Hamza Zubeidi -- former member Revolution Command Council. Queen of spades.

- 19: Sultan Hashim Ahmad -- defence minister. Eight of hearts.

- 20: Ayad Futayyih Khalifa - Quds (Jerusalem) Forces (loyalist militia) chief of staff. Seven of clubs.

- 21: Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar -- director of military intelligence. Seven of hearts.

- 22: Abd al-Baqi al-Karim Abdullah -- Baath Party chairman for Diyala province. Five of diamonds.

- 23: Muhammad Zimam al-Razzaq -- Baath Party chairman for Tamim. Four of spades.

- 24: Samir al-Aziz al-Najim -- Baath Party regional command chairman for east Baghdad. CAPTURED. Four of clubs.

- 25: Yahya Abdullah al-Ubaydi -- Baath Party chairman for Basra. Four of diamonds.

- 26: Nayif Shindakh Thamir -- Baath Party chairman for Salahuddin. Not in the pack of cards.

- 27: Sayf al-Din al-Mashhadani, Baath Party chairman for Muthanna district. Three of clubs.

- 28: Fadil Mahmud Gharib (AKA Gharib Muhammad Fazel) -- Baath Party chairman for Babil district. Three of hearts.

- 29: Muhsin Khadr al-Khafaji -- Baath Party chairman for Qadisiyah. Three of diamonds.

- 30: Rashid Taan Kazim -- Baath Party chairman for Al-Anbar. Two of spades.

- 31: Ugla Saqr al-Kubaysi -- Baath Party chairman for Maysan. Two of clubs.

- 32: Ghazi Hammud al-Ubaydi -- Baath Party chairman Al-Kut. Two of hearts.

- 33: Adil Abdullah Mahdi - Baath Party chairman for Dhi Qar. Two of diamonds.

- 34: Husain al-Awawi - Baath Party chairman for Ninawa. Not in the pack of cards.

- 35: Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad -- Baath Party chairman for Karbala. Not in the pack of cards.

- 36: Abdul Majid al-Faisal -- Baath Party chairman for Salahuddin. Three of spades.

- 37: Latif Nusayyif Jasim -- Baath Party Military Bureau deputy chairman. Ten of clubs.

-38: Taha Yasin Ramadan -- vice president. Ten of diamonds.

- 39: Rukan Razuki al-Ghafar Sulayman al-Majid -- head of Tribal Affairs office. Nine of spades.

- 40: Jamal Mustafa Abdullah -- deputy head of Tribal Affairs Office. Nine of clubs.

- 41: Mizban Khadr Hadi -- Revolution Command Council member. Nine of  hearts.

- 42: Taha Muhyi al-Din Maruf -- vice president. Nine of diamonds.

- 43: Tareq Aziz -- deputy prime minister, Revolution Command Council member. Eight of spades.

- 44: Walid Hamid Tawfiq -- Governor of Basra. Eight of clubs.

- 45: Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi -- deputy prime minister/finance minister. CAPTURED. Eight of diamonds.

- 46: Mahmud Dhiyab al-Ahmad -- interior minister. Seven of spades.

- 47: Amir Rashid Muhammad -- presidential advisor/oil minister. Six of  spades.

- 48: Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih -- trade minister. Six of hearts.

- 49: Hossam Muhammad Amin -- head of National Monitoring Directorate (liaison group with UN arms inspectors). Six of clubs.

- 50: Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan -- presidential advisor. Six of diamonds.

- 51: Watban Ibrahim Hasan -- presidential advisor and Saddam half-brother. CAPTURED. Five of spades.

- 52: Barzan Ibrahim Hasan -- presidential advisor and Saddam half-brother. CAPTURED. Five of clubs.

- 53: Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash -- weapons of mass destruction scientist. Five of hearts.

- 54: Human abd al-Khaliq abd al-Ghafar -- higher education minister. CAPTURED. Four of hearts.

- 55: Amir Hamudi Hasan -- presidential scientific advisor. CAPTURED. Seven of diamonds.

Hezbollah chief warns militants could retaliate against US over Iraq war

WASHINGTON, April 20 (AFP) - The US-led war in Iraq will encourage Islamic militants to retaliate against the United States, the leader of the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah said Sunday. "American policies in the region encourage this kind of retaliation, whether we agree with it or not," Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told CBS television's "60 Minutes" program.

"I believe the continuation of American policy will make enemies of all Arabs and Muslims -- 1,400,000,000 Muslims around the world. Lots of groups will surface, not necessarily al-Qaeda. And they'll be impossible to bring to justice," he said.

He accused the United States of waging the war on Iraq to win its oil reserves and to impose Israeli domination over the region. "The United States isn't seeking democracy in Iraq, it's after the oil. The US wants to impose its political will on Iraq and ... Israel's domination in the region," Nasrallah said. "These objectives are not moral objectives...we say they are satanic objectives," he said.

Nasrallah also spoke out against the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, saying such methods contradict Islamic principles. Hezbollah was set up by Iran, which also equipped the militia and remains its main financier, but the guerrilla group enjoys both political and logistical support from Syria and the pro-Syrian Lebanese government.

Saddam's son-in-law apprehended: Chalabi

WASHINGTON, April 20 (AFP) - Saddam Hussein's son in law, Jamal Mustafa Abdullah Sultan, one of the 55 Iraqi leaders most wanted by the United States, has been apprehended, Iraqi National Congress head Ahmad Chalabi said Sunday. Sultan, the nine of clubs in the "most wanted" deck of cards issued by the US military, is married to Saddam's youngest daughter and had a significant role political and intelligence role in his regime, Chalabi told the Fox News channel.

Saddam's son-in-law persuaded to surrender: INC official

DOHA, April 20 (AFP) - Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, one of 55 top Iraqi officials wanted by the United States, was persuaded by the Iraqi National Congress to surrender, an INC official said Sunday. Jamal Mustafa Abdullah Sultan was talked into returning to Iraq from Syria and giving himself up, Sadeq al-Mussawi told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television.

INC leader Ahmad Chalabi, whose organization long opposed Saddam, had earlier told the American Fox News channel that Sultan had been apprehended. Sultan, the nine of clubs in the "most wanted" deck of cards issued by the US military, is married to Saddam's youngest daughter and had a significant political and intelligence role in his regime, Chalabi said.

Sultan, identified as "Jamal Mustafa Abdullah, deputy head of Tribal Affairs Office" in the US wanted list, was contacted by INC members while in Syria and "they persuaded him to return to Iraq, with some guarantees given (to him)," Mussawi said.

"He responded to the request, surrendered to the Iraqi brothers and was then handed over to coalition forces," he added. Another INC official told AFP in Dubai, however, that Sultan and an officer from Saddam's inner circle who surrendered with him had not yet been taken into custody by the coalition.

The two men are still in INC custody in Baghdad and the handover will take place overnight or on Monday, Haidar Ahmad of the INC's London press office said.

Ahmad identified the officer -- who is not on the US wanted list -- as Major Khaled Hmud al-Faisal, from the Special Republican Guard, part of  Saddam's personal protection unit. Mussawi told Al-Jazeera that Sultan had still not been interrogated. "The conditions of his surrender provided for giving him some security," Mussawi said without elaborating.

Asked if Syria, which has been accused by Washington of harboring officials of the Saddam regime ousted by US forces earlier this month, had a role in persuading Sultan to give himself up, Mussawi said the surrender was the fruit of "direct contacts" between the INC and Sultan.

US forces had not been informed of the contacts "because we did not know (if he would) respond to our request," Mussawi said. He said Sultan, who was in charge of tribal affairs, had acted as a liaison between forces loyal to the regime in its final days.

Lebanese Maronite leader criticises government reshuffle

BKERKE, Lebanon, April 20 (AFP) - Lebanese Maronite leader Nasrallah Sfeir on Sunday deplored the "lack of national unity" in his country, in a thinly-veiled attack against Syria's tightened grip on the government. "Thanks to your efforts and those of the Lebanese who are aware of the dangers looming over the region, Lebanon has remained relatively stable, and we hope this will continue," Sfeir said in his Easter sermon, which was attended by Presient Emile Lahoud.

But the Maronite patriarch, in his first reaction to the new cabinet, nevertheless stressed that "the Lebanese people feel the absence of a national unity which is much needed." On Thursday, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri formed the most pro-Syrian government in Lebanon since 1989, when the country virtually became a Syrian protectorate.

The reshuffle was prompted by Damascus after Washington turned up the heat on Syria over its ties with Iraq and its support for organisations listed by the United States as terrorist. Sfeir has always been one of the most vocal critics of Syria's grip on Lebanon, where it stations an estimated 18,000 troops and has the final say in the appointment of most senior officials.

Lebanese newspapers said after the new line-up was announced that reconciliation among Lebanese factions had taken a back seat to preserving Syria's influence in the face of regional developments, referring to fears that Syria might be Washington's next target after Iraq.

Iraqi opposition leader in security scare

WASHINGTON, April 20 (AFP) - Iraqi opposition leader Ahmad Chalabi was at the centre of a security scare at his Baghdad compound but he denied Sunday that he had been a victim of an assassination attempt just days after his arrival.

Chalabi told ABC television from Baghdad that a stray bullet had wounded one of his security guards on Saturday night. "People were firing in the air, and a stray bullet landed cold on one of our security people, and he was slightly injured. He was treated by US forces here and taken to hospital. It wasn't serious," the head of the Iraqi National Congress insisted.

Asked whether it could have been an assassination attempt, Chalabi replied: "No, certainly not." Chalabi also said he had a report that the arrival of Jay Garner, the retired US general who is to lead the US civilian administration in Iraq, had been delayed. The Washington Post said Garner was scheduled to arrive in Baghdad on Monday.

The INC leader, who is strongly backed by the US Defense Department, gave no other detail on the reasons for the delay. Chalabi arrived in Baghdad last Wednesday and has made his base in a villa previously occupied by the son of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was toppled by the US-led invasion.

Chalabi said the anti-US stance taken by many radical Shiite clergy in Iraq since the ending of the Baghdad regime was a backlash after the downfall of Saddam. "The Shiite population in Iraq has been repressed by Saddam along with everyone else. They have been prevented particularly from expressing their religious views," he said. He said protests in Baghdad and other cities by religious groups were "an act of defiance against Saddam" and not a challenge to the interim authority that will be set up by the United States.

"There is a role for the Islamic religious parties, including the Shia religious parties, because they have some constituency. But they are not going to be forcing any agenda or forcing a theocracy on the Iraqi people." He added: "They are committed to being part of a democratic process in Iraq."

Chalabi said he believed Iraqis would choose to establish "a liberal democratic constitution. And I think the elections will be held under that constitution." The wealthy 57-year-old businessman, who spent long years in exile in London, spent nearly two months in Kurdish-held northern Iraq ahead of the US-British invasion that toppled Saddam. He arrived in Baghdad Wednesday evening.

Some in Washington see him as the only viable head of a future Iraqi government. Two other Iraqis -- Mohammed Mohsen Zubeidi and Jaudat Obeidi of  the INC -- have claimed leadership positions. But the US military has distanced itself from Zubeidi and Obeidi.

Chalabi said it would be Garner's duty to get basic services running again in Iraq and his job would be finished "in a few weeks". "Meanwhile, we must start the process of choosing an Iraqi interim authority to take over the reins of power in the country," Chalabi said.

"But the political process, I don't think, is within General Garner's brief. This is going to be done by Iraqis in cooperation directly with the United States government and its representatives in Washington." Chalabi reaffirmed that he would not hold any position in the interim authority but is now being evasive over his longer term ambitions.

"I do not think that seeking power, political power, in Iraq, is necessarily the right part for me even after the interim authority is over," he told ABC. Pressed to say whether he was ruling out a long term position, Chalabi said he could not give "a reasonable answer". "But my intention now is not to do it," he declared.

Syria to face 'sanctions' if it keeps supporting militants: Armitage

DUBAI, April 20 (AFP) - Syria will face "sanctions" if it continues to support extremist movements such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said an in interview published Sunday.

"If Syria decided to maintain its support for terrorism, particularly of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad in Palestine, we will be forced to impose sanctions and other political measures on it," Armitage told the Al-Khaleej daily, published in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Armitage, whose remarks were printed in Arabic, did not spell out what the "sanctions" would entail. "Syria is at a crossroads," he said. "Many things have changed and I hope President (Bashar) Assad takes that into consideration."

Armitage stressed that Syria's neighbors were "friends" of the United States, mentioning Israel, Jordan and Turkey and also Iraq, where a US-led coalition ousted Saddam Hussein from power this month. Syria, ruled by a rival branch of Saddam's Baath Party, has been among the most vociferous states in denouncing the war in Iraq.

The United States has in recent weeks stepped up its rhetoric towards Syria, accusing Damascus of possessing chemical weapons, smuggling military equipment into Iraq and providing a safe haven for Saddam's associates. Syria has denied the charges and Armitage's boss, Colin Powell, has said he hopes to travel to Damascus in the near future. Armitage assured the US-British administration of Iraq would be "very short."

"We are going to try to put in power as quickly as possible an interim Iraqi government," he said. But he said the coalition wanted first "to be sure of the absence of weapons of mass destruction and to re-establish security" in Iraq.