U.S. Forces Capture 'Chemical Ali'

B A G H D A D, Iraq, Aug. 21 -- — Ali Hassan Majid, one of the most notorious members of Saddam Hussein's regime, also known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in the gas attacks on Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s, has been captured in Iraq, U.S. officials confirmed today.

U.S. military officials said Majid, Saddam's first cousin and No. 5 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis, was captured Sunday by Special Operations Task Force 20 during a raid north of Baghdad. No further details of his capture were released.

Task Force 20 is the elite unit responsible for hunting down Saddam and other key members of the regime. The unit was involved in the raid in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last month that resulted in the killing of Saddam's sons, Odai and Qusai Hussein.

ABCNEWS has learned that Majid's arrest was not immediately made public since U.S. officials were conducting DNA tests to ascertain that they had the right man. More importantly, sources said, officials did not want news of his capture leaking to Saddam in case the two of them were in contact.

The hope was that U.S. officials could act on anything Ali told them before Saddam learned of the capture and changed his routine.

In early April, British forces said they believed they had killed Majid in an airstrike on his home in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, but the Pentagon could not confirm his death and now knows Majid survived the attack.

U.S. military officials have declined to provide details on whether Majid, the latest of Saddam's closest advisers to be apprehended, had been playing a role in organizing anti-American resistance in recent months.

"Chemical Ali has been active in some ways in influencing people in and around him in a regional way," Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters in Washington today.

‘Pioneer’ of Gas Attacks

News of "Chemical Ali's" capture was greeted by celebrations in the northern Iraqi cities of Kirkuk, Irbil and Sulaymaniyah today, with jubilant Kurdish families, dressed in traditional clothes, driving into the streets shouting, "We're happy they captured Ali."