Former Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan was captured by Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Mosul on Monday and turned over to United States forces, a senior official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has announced.
”PUK fighters captured Taha Yassin Ramadan on Monday at 3pm local time [11am GMT] in Mosul,” the official said in Arbil on condition of anonymity, adding that ”he has been turned over to American forces.”
Another PUK official in Sulaimaniyah, where Jalal Talabani’s party is based, confirmed the arrest of Ramadan, himself a Mosul native and listed among the 55 most wanted members of the former Iraqi regime.
The US army did not immediately confirm the arrest.
Ramadan, Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man before the fall of the former regime and a member of the powerful Revolution Command Council, is the 10 of diamonds on the pack of cards issued by American forces.
If his arrest is confirmed, it will bring to 38 the number of wanted former Iraqi officials captured or killed since Saddam was ousted.