BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, one of the three half-brothers of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, has been arrested, the interim Iraqi government said on Sunday.

   After the capture of Sabawi, number 36 on the US list of 55 most wanted ex-Iraqi officials, all those wanted by the US military from Saddam's family have been either arrested or killed.

   Uday and Qusay, Saddam's two sons, were killed in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, in December 2003. Barzan and Watban, also Saddam's half-brothers, were netted in April 2003. Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, dubbed "chemical Ali", was detained in August 2003.

   Under Saddam's regime, Sabawi used to serve as the head of the General Security Directorate, responsible for internal security, and later became Saddam's presidential advisor.

   He was given birth by Saddam's mother, who married Saddam's uncle after her husband died. The two other sons she had were Barzan and Watban.

   Sabawi's arrest brought to 45 the number of detained or killed ex-officials among the list of 55 most wanted. Ten now remains at large, including Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former deputy and vice president of the former ruling Revolution Command Council.

   The incumbent Iraqi government accused Sabawi of being behind killings and explosions across Iraq since the toppling of the former regime in 2003, and offered a one-million-dollar reward for information leading to his capture or death.

   In a statement issued on Sunday, the government said Sabawi had been involved in "plotting, financing and supervising terrorist attacks in Iraq."

   Iraqi officials mentioned that Sabawi had been directing armed operations out of his hideout in Syria.

   Hazim al-Shaalan, the Iraqi interim defense minister, recently accused him of leading a group of former Baathists living in Syria who had planned assassination attempts on Shaalan's life.

   Shaalan said that the details of the plan were worked out in Syria by an Iraqi group seeking refuge there, and they were led by Sabawi and Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed, a leading member in the Baath party at the time of Saddam.

   Iraqi and American officials have repeatedly charged Syria with sheltering former Iraqi officials, but the Syrian government always denies the charge.

   The interim Iraqi government regarded the arrest of Sabawi a victory in its efforts to eliminate the insurgents.

   "His arrest shows the determination of the Iraqi government to follow and arrest all criminals who committed massacres to Iraqi people, and bring them to justice," said the statement.

   In the past few days, the government announced the capture of a large number of cell leaders who admitted their role in various anti-US attacks.

   The detainees, including some linked to al-Qaida ally Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, confessed they received money and training from certain parties in Syria.  Enditem