The U.S. military says Abid Hamid Mahmud, the number four man on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis, has been taken into custody.
Mr. Mahmud was personal secretary for ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. U.S. Central Command describes him as also being a national security advisor and senior bodyguard for Saddam.
A Central Command statement says Mr. Mahmoud was captured in Iraq on Monday by coalition forces.
Mr. Mahmud is the highest-ranking person on the most-wanted list captured to date. The only three people listed above him are Saddam Hussein himself and his sons, Qusay and Uday.
An American general says troops have also seized huge amounts of cash found during a raid on two farmhouses near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.
Major General Ray Odierno says the troops found $8.5 million in American currency, along with smaller amounts of Iraqi dinars, British pounds and euros.
Speaking in Tikrit Wednesday on a video hook-up with reporters in Washington, General Odierno said the cash may have been used to pay bounties for attacks on American soldiers.
The general said his troops also captured up to 50 people believed to have ties to Saddam's security forces
U.S. troops have been conducting raids at several locations around Iraq in a bid to crush groups still loyal to Saddam. U.S. officials blame the Saddam loyalists for attacks on U.S. troops that have killed more than 40 American soldiers since May 1.
Earlier Wednesday, one American soldier was killed and another wounded in a shooting attack at a Baghdad gas station.
In a separate incident, U.S. troops shot and killed two Iraqi demonstrators in front of one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces, which now serves as the headquarters for coalition forces in Baghdad.
