Ibrahim Ahmad Abd al Sattar Muhammad al Tikriti was listed as No. 11 on the US list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqi officials. "We have him in custody," the official was quoted by agencies reports as saying.

Earlier Monday, the US Central Command announced that US forces have taken into custody of Rihab Rashid Taha, an Iraqi woman scientist who was accused of leading Iraq's efforts to weaponize germs such as anthrax.

But Central Command spokesman Brad Lowell, who announced Taha's capture, said he could not confirm the detention of Tikriti.

US Forces Detain Another Iraqi Scientist

US forces have captured another Iraqi scientist who was allegedly involved in Iraq's biological weapons development program, US Central Command said Monday.

Rihab Rashid Taha, known as "Doctor Germ," is now in the control of US forces, the command said in a statement.

"I don't have the details of how she came under our control," Brad Lowell, spokesman for the Central Command, was quoted as saying by agencies reports.

Pentagon officials reportedly said that Taha, a British-trained microbiologist, was captured over the weekend.

US officials accused Taha of leading Iraq's efforts to weaponize the deadly anthrax bacteria.

Taha is the second Iraqi woman scientist detained by US forces recently. Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, a US-trained microbiologist and dubbed "Mrs Anthrax," was taken into the custody more than a week ago.

(Source from Xinhua News Agency, May 13, 2003)