America issues decks of cards showing Iraq's 'most wanted'

American commanders displayed a pack of cards yesterday showing the photographs of the 55 "most wanted" Iraqis. They said the cards had been issued to troops in the continuing hunt for top members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said the cards contained details and images of "55 individuals who may be killed, pursued and brought to justice".

The image on the top card – the "ace of clubs" – appeared to be that of President Saddam's son Qusay. President Saddam was said to be the "ace of spades".

The demonstration was somewhat flamboyant for the normally cautious Brig Gen Brooks. It came after US forces bombed a house that belonged to President Saddam's half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, the former head of the secret police.

The cards gesture ran into trouble after US Central Command refused to give the cards to reporters, or reveal the names of those featured. This prompted scepticism that the so-called "investigative tools" were a public relations gimmick. British military sources made no secret of their irritation that US media handlers had not followed up the display by giving details of what the cards contained.

Nearly seven hours after the first press briefing, the 55 names were released by the American military.

It is just conceivable that the idea was suggested by the old US military song "The Deck of Cards" in which a combat soldier reprimanded for spreading out a symbolic pack of cards in church explains their religious value – with the jack as the Devil and the ace as God.

In any case, Brig Gen Brooks said yesterday that "the deck of cards is one example of what we provide to soldiers and marines out in the field with faces of individuals and their names". The list was also being distributed in posters and handbills, he said.

Brig Gen Brooks added that the task of dismantling the regime included removing "military forces ... security forces ... police sources that might support it and anything else that props the regime up". He added: "There clearly has to be some involvement on individuals to haul those pieces away. There will also be attacks against individuals, who are key decision makers, to kill or capture them. We consider them all to be legitimate military targets."

Brig Gen Brooks also disclosed that special operations forces had accepted the surrender of an unnamed Iraqi colonel who was responsible for the border control points at Route 11 on the Syrian border. He said the colonel handed over the keys to the control point, cutting off another possible route for flight to Syria.

Meanwhile there was fierce fighting to the north-west at Qaim, which is close to the Syrian border. A surface-to-surface missile site used to launch Scuds at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War is believed to be located there.

American military sources said they still could not say for certain whether President Saddam was killed in an aerial bomb attack on a restaurant in the Baghdad suburb of Mansur four days ago. They said the site had not been secured for forensic scientists who might be able to determine whether the Iraqi leader was dead. Senior military officials said they expected to have troops at the site within days.

The only regime figure believed to have been killed is Ali Hassan al-Majid, or "Chemical Ali". But that fact depends on an informal identification by locals in Basra.

The key henchmen

BARZAN IBRAHIM AL-TIKRITI

Saddam Hussein's half-brother and a former intelligence agency head. Target of a US bomb yesterday that hit an intelligence building west of Baghdad.Ambassador to UN for 10 years, he triggered defection rumours by deferring his return after being recalled in 1998.

QUSAY HUSSEIN

President Saddam's second son and heir apparent after his promotion to a leadership post two years ago, when his elder brother, Uday, was sidelined. Aged 37, he is in charge of the Republican Guard and Saddam Hussein's security, and he oversees his father's home town, Tikrit, and Baghdad.

TARIQ AZIZ

For many years, he was the public face of the Iraqi regime as Saddam Hussein's Foreign Minister. He is now Deputy Prime Minister. He has disappeared since the war began and his house has been comprehensively looted. Mr Aziz is the only Christian in the Iraqi leadership, and comes from Mosul.

IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI

Vice-chairman of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council since 1979. His daughter is married to Uday Hussein. Accused of complicity in the invasion of Kuwait and repression of the Kurds and Marsh Arabs. Presided over courts that executed dissidents.

UDAY HUSSEIN

Saddam Hussein's elder son, a high-living playboy famed for his sadistic cruelty to friends and enemies alike. Crippled in an assassination attempt, he was latterly less inflentuial than his brother, running newspapers, television stations and the Iraqi Olympic Committee.