Captured: the torturer and killer who hid Saddam's cash

Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's half-brother and one of his most feared associates, was captured yesterday by special forces and US Marines in what was probably the most important operation of its kind since the war began.

Barzan, who is alleged to have personally taken part in torturing opponents to death, was seized in a raid in south Baghdad. He is believed to have helped Saddam Hussein hide billions of dollars in other countries and has also been held responsible for the genocide of thousands of Kurds during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. He was among the 55 top members of the Iraqi regime being hunted by British and American forces in Iraq.

Less welcome for the Allies will be his intimate knowledge as a former chief of the Iraqi foreign Mukhbarat (intelligence agency) in the 1980s. Barzan has at his fingertips the embarrassing details of the close military and intelligence links between the West and Baghdad during Iraq's bloody war with Iran.

Barzan later served as Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations in Switzerland for a decade and was recalled to Baghdad in 1999 amid rumours that he intended to defect after falling out with Saddam.

American commanders hope that Barzan's interrogation will yield vital information on how to recover the bulk of the multibillion dollar "slush fund" held overseas for the Iraqi dictator and his family. It was Barzan ­ whose full name is Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti ­ who was held responsible for the execution of the British journalist Farzad Bazoft, hanged in central Baghdad in March 1990 after being secretly tried on trumped up "espionage" charges.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, deputy director of operations at US Central Command, disclosed the capture and said that Barzan was a close adviser to the deposed dictator and had "extensive knowledge" of the workings of the former government. The arrest came a week after US war planes had used six "bunker-buster" bombs to destroy a building to the west of Baghdad where they said they thought Barzan had been.

Last Sunday special forces ­ believed to be the British SAS ­ also captured another half-brother of the dictator, the former interior minister Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti ­ both men are on the US's list of 55 "most wanted" figures in the regime.

Barzan had been captured alone in Baghdad, Brig-Gen Brooks said, and the hunt for him had been helped by information from Iraqi civilians. "We are currently asking a number of questions," he said. "Finding out what ever we can from this capture."

Because Barzan is said to have been closely involved in the weapons programme, his questioning may prove important in determining whether US forces can provide the evidence which has so far eluded them of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Kenneth Pollack, an Iraq expert who was an adviser to president Bill Clinton, claims that Barzan said Iraq needed nuclear weapons because it wanted "a strong hand in order to redraw the map of the Middle East".

However, although two Arabic newspapers cited claims by Baghdadis that the deposed leader was seen hours before US forces took control of the city, there is no word of his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, a US army unit arrested a dozen men and youths inside a branch of the Al-Rashid Bank in Baghdad after thieves blew a hole in the vault and dropped children through the opening to bring out cash, US sources said. Guns were fired as hundreds of people converged on the bank demanding that the thieves gave them the money but US soldiers said they had recovered about $4m (£2.5m).