US forces captured five to 10 people believed to bodyguards of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a senior US commander said Friday.

Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said American forces raided a house south of Tikrit Thursday on a tip from an Iraqi informant.

Odierno, talking to reporters in Washington via a teleconference from Tikrit, said the captives were now being interrogated, but it was not clear whether the suspected bodyguards had been with Saddam since the fall of Baghdad in April.

The general said American forces also have talked to one of Saddam's wives in efforts to track down the former Iraqi leader.

"We continue to tighten the noose," said Odierno, adding that the capture of suspected bodyguards showed that the United States is making progress in the hunt for Saddam since killing of his two sons Tuesday.

He said the deaths of Saddam's sons, Odai and Qusai, have not changed the number or type of attacks on Odierno's forces, but the killings have prompted more tips from Iraqis.

Acting on another tip Thursday, the US forces discovered a large cache of firearms and explosives, seized 45,000 sticks of dynamite, 11 improvised bombs, 34 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, he said.

Odierno said attacks against his troops had dropped by about 50percent over the past month, but some of the attacks were becoming more sophisticated.

He said his troops are preparing for the possibility of attack swith car bombs or suicide bombers.

(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2003)