Washington ? Allied forces have captured a half brother of Saddam Hussein in northern Iraq, a U.S. official said Sunday.

Watban Ibrahim Hassan, who had in the past served as an adviser to his half brother, was captured near Mosul as he apparently tried to flee to Syria, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hassan had fallen out of favor with Saddam in 1995 and was dismissed as Iraq’s interior minister, head of the regime’s secret police and other domestic security agencies. Saddam viewed Hassan as a threat and kept a close watch on him, the official said. Saddam’s son Odai is reported to have shot Hassan around the time of his dismissal as interior minister.

A U.S. government official who asked not to be identified by name said that Watban and Saddam shared a mother but had different fathers.

Medical authorities said Watban’s capture could lead to easier identification of any possible remains of Saddam because scientists can compare their mitochondrial DNA, which is only passed down from mothers to children.