GOOD FOR OUR TEAM

US troops arrested a high ranking Iraqi officer who once served as a chief of staff of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard, the military said today.

Thirteen other men, including a Saddam bodyguard, were also taken into custody during the raid on the outskirts of Tikrit, the former dictator’s home town.

All were members of a family that served as a pillar of support for Saddam’s regime, said US Lt Col Steve Russell. He declined to name the detainees.

“They were trying to support the remnants of the former regime by organising attacks, through funding and by trying to hide former regime members,” he said.