The United States has claimed to have captured the number 18 figure on its list of the 55 most wanted figures from Saddam Hussein's regime.
Officials said Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaydi, a former member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council and central Euphrates regional commander, was arrested in Iraq.
Al-Zubaydi played a key role in Iraq's brutal suppression of the Shiite Muslim uprising of 1991. He was featured in Iraqi news film kicking and beating captured Shiite rebels.
The former prime minister and deputy prime minister played a major role in suppressing the uprising that followed Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War.
A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress (INC) in London said al-Zubaydi had been caught thanks to a tip off from local people.
He said al-Zubaydi was caught "in co-ordination with Allied troops" by "Free Iraqi Forces" affiliated to the INC.
PA