Saddam half-brother captured
Former personal adviser to Iraqi dictator

Sunday, February 27, 2005 Posted: 10:09 AM EST (1509 GMT)


Sab'awi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, right, receives medals from Saddam Hussein in December 1999.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Saddam Hussein's half-brother, who was a personal adviser during his presidency, was captured in a joint Iraqi and coalition forces operation, Iraqi government officials said Sunday.

Sab'awi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti was No. 36 on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, and one of 12 people on the list who remained at large. A half-brother on Saddam's mother's side, al-Hasan held many positions in his regime, the latest as Saddam's personal adviser.

There is evidence that al-Hasan was financing insurgents in the post-Saddam era, an Iraqi intelligence official told CNN.

"It is safe to say that Sab'awi al-Tikriti was an active member in the planning, supervising and carrying out [of] numerous terrorist operations inside Iraq," said a statement issued by the Iraqi government.

Saddam was captured December 13, 2003, near Tikrit and is in coalition custody. The Red Cross has been permitted to visit him.

Al-Hasan had a $1 million bounty on his head, a multinational forces official confirmed. It was not known whether the reward would be paid, as the circumstances of his capture were not immediately available.

"The capture of Sab'awi is a result of the Iraqi government's efforts to chase and detain all criminals who committed crimes of genocide and have the blood of the Iraq people on their hands," said the Iraqi government statement. "These people must get their fair punishment for their crimes."

Al-Hasan's son, Omar Sab'awi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, was known as a high-ranking Ba'athist, Saddam's party, and was active in the "General Union of Iraqi Students and Youth."

In early March of 2003, a team of U.S. Justice Department officials traveled to Iraq to start organizing evidence that could be used against Saddam, who is to stand trial by an Iraqi tribunal.

No trial date has been set.