Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam Hussein's top lieutenant, has surrendered to the US forces in Iraq, Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel reported Tuesday. 

The report, quoting unidentified sources, could not be confirmed by the US military in Baghdad.

US army officers had indicated that the interrogation of Saddam and the materials he had taken with him had helped the troops find one or two high-ranking officials of the former Iraqi regime.

After catching Saddam in an underground hole near his hometown of Tikrit, the American forces hoped to extract from him useful information including the hide-outs of the 14 most wanted figures still at large.

US commander of ground forces in Iraq Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said the US troops were trying to get intelligence "necessary for us to continue the mission we've been assigned here."

On Dec. 2, a member of the US-handpicked Iraqi Governing Council said Ibrahim al-Douri was probably arrested or killed in a massive military operation near northern city of Kirkuk.

The "positive result" turned out to be the capture of al-Douri's private secretary Lt. Gen. Saad al-Douri.

Ibrahim al-Douri, vice chairman of the former Revolutionary Command Council, is the highest ranking former official that the US army has not confirmed killed or captured on the US 55 wanted list.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2003)