The U.S. military says it has captured one of Saddam Hussein's bodyguards in a pre-dawn raid Tuesday in the former dictator's hometown of Tikrit.
The Coalition Press Information Center in Iraq confirms the arrest of one of Saddam Hussein's bodyguards during a military operation in Tikrit.
U.S. military officials say the bodyguard, Adnan Abdullah Abid al-Musslit, was one of several people detained in the operation. They say soldiers fired two shots before storming a house to capture him. He was escorted out of the building minutes later, bleeding and dressed only in his underwear.
Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, who took part in the operation, called the man a close associate and life-long bodyguard of Saddam Hussein.
U.S. military officials say they are receiving more intelligence on Saddam Hussein's possible whereabouts, both from Iraqi tip-offs and from their raids. They say the deposed leader is running out of places to hide.
The United States has put a $25 million bounty on Saddam. Finding him, they say, would help end a guerilla campaign that has killed almost 50 American soldiers since the end of major combat operations on May 1.
U.S. soldiers also uncovered a large weapons cache in Tikrit that they say contained enough materiel to carry out a month of guerilla attacks.
Meanwhile, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Richard Armitage says the only way to assure that Saddam Hussein could be captured alive is if he surrenders to military personnel.
