"Special operation forces last night captured another key member of the regime, Samir al-Aziz al-Najim, one of the top 55 members of the regime," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said at US Central Command headquarters in Qatar.

The capture of al-Najim, the regional command chairman of the former ruling Baath party in eastern Baghdad, follows the seizure of Saddam's half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti on Thursday.

The announcement came as Arab leaders were preparing on Friday for a meeting in Riyadh aimed at moderating US influence over postwar Iraq, while Washington began deploying a 1,000-strong force to hunt down Saddam's alleged arsenal of banned weapons.

Chief United Nations (UN) weapons inspector Hans Blix also called for his inspectors to return to Iraq and compile a new report on Baghdad's alleged weapons of mass destruction, the main justification claimed by Washington and London for launching the war on March 20.

But more strife was looming between the United States and other members of the UN Security Council over the lifting of sanctions against Iraq, while Washington also aroused controversy awarding a reconstruction contract worth up to US$680 million to the US Bechtel Group.

Russia, which fears its economy could be badly damaged by US domination of Iraq's oil resources, said it would not support a US proposal to lift UN sanctions on Iraq unless it is confirmed that the country has no weapons of mass destruction.

As the US administration turned up the heat on Damascus, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he hoped to visit Syria as part of a trip to the Middle East in the near future that could see the release of a long-awaited road map for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

On the US weapons team, CNN quoted a Pentagon official as saying that initial elements were already on the ground in Iraq and the full contingent should be operational within two weeks.

This latest effort to locate the weapons, said CNN, underscores the growing Pentagon view that Washington no longer expects to find them on its own, but will have to offer rewards to Iraqis to draw out information on where to look.

In an interview with the BBC, Blix said his inspectors could give credibility to any discovery of banned weapons made by US or British troops.

But the White House said it was not yet time to discuss the possible return of the inspectors, who were withdrawn from Iraq one month ago on the eve of the US-led invasion.

In the Gulf, foreign ministers from six countries bordering Iraq, as well as those of regional heavyweight Egypt and current Arab league chairman Bahrain, arrived in Riyadh for crucial talks on the country's future.

The talks were aimed at giving the countries a say on the formation of a new national government in Baghdad and also limiting the US military presence.

Baghdad's five million people remained largely without water and power early on Friday after three weeks of bombing destroyed much of the capital's infrastructure. US marines said they hoped to restore electricity to half of the population later in the day.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis flocked to mosques for the first normal Friday prayers since the fall of Saddam.

(China Daily April 19, 2003)