BAGHDAD: The capture of Saddam Hussein's closest aide tightened the net on the missing Iraqi leader yesterday, as gun-toting mourners cursed America at the funeral of a protester killed by US troops in Baghdad.

Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam's secretary, national security adviser and senior bodyguard, was captured on Monday - the Ace of Diamonds on a pack of cards issued to US troops hunting 55 most wanted Iraqis.

He is the most sought after fugitive netted to date with only Saddam and his sons, Uday and Qusay, outranking him on the list.

A former Iraqi military intelligence chief, Major-General Wafiq al-Samarra'i, said Tikriti had accompanied Saddam as a trusted lieutenant since his master came to power in 1979.

"I can say that arresting him will enable the coalition forces to arrest Saddam Hussein," he told the Arabic Al Jazeera television channel, adding he was sure Saddam was alive.

On Wednesday, US President George W. Bush defended for the first time British Prime Minister Tony Blair against allegations he exaggerated evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons programme.

"He (Blair) operated on very sound intelligence and those accusations are simply not true," Bush said in a show of support for his embattled Iraq war ally.

Blair and Bush have been dogged by critics who allege they may have hyped the threat posed by Baghdad to build the case for war.

But Blair in particular faces mounting political pressure at home to produce evidence of banned Iraqi weapons that he said justified Britain joining the United States in military action.

US forces have not found chemical or biological weapons since ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in April.

Bush has cited the discovery of suspected bio-labs as proof of progress in the weapons hunt, and White House officials say it will take time to uncover the extent of Iraq's illicit programmes.

As for the reconstruction mission in Iraq, around 73 per cent of Baghdad residents say US troops have failed to bring security to their troubled city, according to Iraq's first opinion poll, released yesterday.

The survey, conducted by the independent Iraqi Institute of Strategic Studies, polled 1,100 people between June 8 and 10.

"We must be honest enough to say the coalition has not prevented us from conducting the survey," ISS director Saadoun al-Dulaimi told a news conference.

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 06/20/2003 page1)