Son of Tariq Aziz Negotiated Surrender

B A G H D A D, Iraq, April 25 -- A son of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz negotiated his father's surrender over a satellite phone with the help of a friend in the United States, ABCNEWS has learned.

A trusted aide to Saddam Hussein and a top former Iraqi government spokesman, Aziz is in U.S. custody after surrendering to U.S. forces in Baghdad on Thursday.

Aziz's surrender has raised U.S. expectations that more wanted Iraqi officials would be captured or would surrender themselves in the next few days.

A former Iraqi spy chief was also detained on Thursday, by U.S. forces near the Iraq-Syria border, U.S. military officials confirmed today.

Farouk Hijazi was in U.S. custody, U.S. officials said, but there were no further details about his capture.

Hijazi was Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia until the war began, buthe does not feature in the U.S. list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis.

A former head of external operations in the Mukhabarat intelligence agency during the 1990s, Hijazi is believed to have orchestrated the assassination attempt against former President George Bush.

He is believed to have traveled to Afghanistan in the late 1990s, where he allegedly met Osama bin Laden, said ABCNEWS' John McWethy.

U.S. officials maintain that Saddam's regime had ties to the al Qaeda network, a fact Aziz repeatedly denied before the war began.

A day after Aziz's surrender, it was not known if he was passing on information although ABCNEWS has learned that the former Iraqi deputy prime minister had agreed to talk to his captors.

A well-spoken expert on foreign affairs, Aziz's demeanor was believed to be calm during the surrender, but there were concerns about the 67-year-old former Iraqi minister's health.

There were doctors present during the surrender, said ABCNEWS' Dan Harris in Baghdad. He is believed to have had two heart attacks in recent days.

One of Aziz's major concerns regarding his surrender were the safety of his family, including his wife and three grownup children, said Harris.