The US military says it has Saddam Hussein's finance minister in custody today (Saturday) after he was captured and handed over by Iraqi police.
A US Central Command spokesman says Hikmat Ibrahim al-Azzawi may be able to lead investigators to the billions of dollars Saddam is believed to have stashed away overseas.
US military officials say they have also detained senior Baath Party official Samir al-Aziz al-Najim. Both he and Mr. al-Azzawi are on the coalition's list of 55 "most-wanted" Iraqis.
Saddam himself remains missing and unaccounted for. In a V-O-A interview today (Saturday), the commander of US Army forces in Iraq, General William Scott Wallace, said that if Saddam is not dead, he is, quote, "running like hell."
General Wallace says it may take time before Iraqis are convinced the Saddam regime is truly gone. He says Iraqi civilians are giving what he called "subdued" cooperation to U-S forces, in some cases telling US troops where they can find weapons caches or unexploded bombs.
Meanwhile, the first major post-war convoy of food aid is due to arrive in Baghdad some time today (Saturday). The U-N-organized convoy, traveling east from Jordan, is carrying flour to be stored in warehouses until authorities arrange its distribution.
More aid may also start flowing soon from southern Iraq, where the British military says it has re-opened a rail link between the city of Basra and Iraq's only deep-water port, Umm Qasr.
Reports from around the country say security and public services are gradually being restored after days of looting and chaos. The U-S Central Command says American Marines working with Iraqis and international relief groups have restored water, police, fire and health services to Nasiriya, scene of heavy fighting during the war.
However, much of Baghdad remains without electricity -- nearly two weeks after the power went out.
Reports from the Iraqi capital today (Saturday) say the city is relatively calm, with uniformed Iraqi police directing traffic on busy city streets. But for the second day in a row protesters gathered to demand US forces leave Iraq.
US Marines, who seized much of the Iraqi capital earlier this month, have begun pulling out in favor of regular US Army troops. The larger Army force will take over efforts to restore the city's public services and security.