BAGHDAD — The capture of Saddam Hussein is providing intelligence that has led to the arrests of key figures in the anti-U.S. insurgency and a clearer picture of what role the ousted dictator played, a U.S. general told The Associated Press on Monday.
The intelligence gleaned, some of it from Saddam's document-filled briefcase, has also given the U.S. 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, Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division said in an interview with AP.
The division's intelligence analysts were able to match the intelligence from Saddam against its database of insurgent suspects, Hertling said. As a result, the division was busy making arrests and interrogating prisoners all night Sunday and early Monday.
"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 U.S. commanders evidence that Saddam played a moral and financial role in the anti-U.S. insurgency, Hertling said. Saddam had $750,000 when U.S. 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."
U.S. 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 Saddam's capture, U.S. 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 U.S. defense official. The official did not disclose the general's name.
It is unclear how much knowledge Saddam has of the insurgency. U.S. forces said they found no communications equipment, maps or other evidence of a guerrilla command center at Saddam's hiding place. Also, intelligence officials say they believe he has been too concerned with survival to serve much more than an inspiration to the resistance.
Saddam was being interrogated at an undisclosed location in Iraq.
"He's answering willingly to the questions that are being asked of him," U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top military commander in Iraq, told CNN on Monday. He said Saddam wasn't "freely giving us information yet, but we'll continue to work toward that end."
Saddam greeted his initial interrogation with a mix of sarcasm and defiance, U.S. officials in Washington said Monday, 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.
Saddam has denied to his interrogators that his regime had weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaida.
He has also denied knowledge of the fate of Scott Speicher, the Navy pilot who disappeared over Iraq during the first Gulf War. Sen. Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Saddam denied taking any prisoners when asked about Speicher.