Arrest leading to other figures

The intelligence gleaned, some of it from Hussein's document-filled briefcase, has also given the US military a far clearer picture of the guerrillas' command-and-control network in Baghdad, and has confirmed the existence of rebel cells whose presence was previously only suspected, Brigadier General Mark Hertling of the US Army's First Armored Division said in an interview.

The division's intelligence analysts were able to match the intelligence from Hussein against its database of insurgent suspects, Hertling said. The division was busy making arrests and interrogating prisoners all night Sunday and early yesterday.

"Some were things we already knew about and we just needed the intel to go after them. I think we'll get some significant intelligence over the next couple of days," Hertling said. "We've already been able to capture a couple of key individuals here in Baghdad."

The surge in new detail was giving US commanders evidence that Hussein played a moral and financial role in the anti-US insurgency, Hertling said. Hussein had $750,000 when US Army raiders found him Saturday hiding in a hole dug into a farmyard near his hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

"I'm sure he was giving some guidance to some key figures in this insurgency," Hertling said. "When you take down the mob boss, you don't know how much is going to come of it."

US intelligence and military officials say their first priority is to focus on the resistance and the whereabouts of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and other remaining senior regime officials and insurgent leaders.

Since Hussein's capture, US forces have taken into custody an Iraqi general who is not on the American list of 55 most-wanted members of the former regime, according to a senior US defense official. The official did not disclose the general's name.

It is unclear how much knowledge Hussein has of the insurgency. US forces said they found no communications equipment, maps, or other evidence of a guerrilla command center at Hussein's hiding place. A report in today's New York Times cited US officials as saying that Hussein told his interrogators he did not direct the insurgency. Intelligence officials say they believe he has been too concerned with survival to serve as much more than an inspiration to the resistance.

Hussein was being interrogated at an undisclosed location in Iraq. "He's answering willingly to the questions that are being asked of him," US Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the top military commander in Iraq, told CNN yesterday. He said Hussein wasn't "freely giving us information yet, but we'll continue to work toward that end."

Hussein greeted his initial interrogation with a mix of sarcasm and defiance, US officials in Washington said yesterday, discussing the questioning only on the condition of anonymity.

The former dictator has complied with simple commands to stand up and sit down, but officials said he has not provided much useful information on the guerrilla war or other matters.

Some of his responses are regarded as an attempt to rationalize and justify his actions, the officials said.

Hussein has denied to his interrogators that his regime had weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda. He has also denied knowledge of the fate of Scott Speicher, the Navy pilot who disappeared during the first Gulf War.