Saddam's wife, daughter on most wanted list

A combo picture shows from (L to R) Saddam Hussein's former deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, a painting of Saddam's first wife Sajida and Saddam's eldest daughter Raghad. Sajida and Raghad Saddam Hussein, both living in exile, figured yesterday on a new list of 41 most wanted fugitives unveiled by Iraq's national security advisor. PHOTO: AFP

Saddam's daughter, Raghd, has taken a leading role in organising her father's legal defence for crimes against humanity. She is believed to spend much of her time in neighbouring Jordan.

Her mother Sajida is also on the list topped by former Saddam deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and including the new head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

"These people you see here carry out the majority of what you see in bombings," National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al- Rubaie told a televised news conference in Baghdad.

Rubaie announced the list one day after a car bomb killed more than 60 people in a crowded market in a Shia district in eastern Baghdad in the bloodiest attack in three months.

Rubaie urged countries "harbouring these people to hand them over to the Iraqi people for a fair trial."

The list included senior members from Saddam's Baath party and al-Qaeda militants. Some like Douri are still on the three- year-old "deck of cards," a list of 55 wanted Baathist officials issued by the US military.

After a US air strike killed al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on June 7, the group named Masri as its successor. al-Qaeda has vowed to avenge Zarqawi's death.