Baghdad, Iraq ? Tariq Aziz appears to have hidden in plain sight during the U.S. invasion, holing up in a Baghdad home until four American armored vehicles rolled up and he surrendered, neighbors and relatives said Friday.

The former deputy prime minister finds himself in a position he swore he’d never face: captured by the United States and facing a possible war crimes trial for his career as Saddam Hussein’s sidekick.

Some Iraqis, quick to urge hanging or cages for Saddam and other members of his regime, called Friday for mercy for Aziz. They said he showed none of the personal relish for blood that the others did.

“He had to do what he was told, or Saddam would execute him,” said Bishop Emmanuel Delly, Baghdad leader of the Chaldean Catholic faith, to which Aziz belongs.

The U.S. Central Command on Thursday announced the capture of Aziz — after Saddam himself, Iraq’s best-known figure internationally. U.S. military officials said Aziz surrendered Thursday in Baghdad.

American officials gave no further details. Chaldean Catholic clerics in Baghdad insisted church figures played no role in mediating the surrender, saying they learned of it afterward.

Tariq Aziz, former deputy prime minister for Iraq, sought shelter at his daughter's Baghdad home, seen here. He surrendered Thursday to U.S. officials.

In a wealthy eastern Baghdad neighborhood, neighbors described seeing four U.S. armored vehicles pull up about 11 p.m. Thursday outside the blockwide mansion where one of Aziz’s daughters lived.

U.S. soldiers spilled from the hatches, taking up positions around the home, neighbors said. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

The neighborhood was in darkness at the time, emerging only Friday from a citywide three-week power outage. It was impossible to see who, if anyone, accompanied the soldiers when they left, residents said.

At another Aziz family home, a woman who described herself as a very close relative refused to talk at length. “This is not the time,” said the clearly exhausted woman, apparently in her early 50s.

She confirmed, however, that the family was worried about the 66-year-old Aziz’s heart condition. Media reports said Aziz has had two heart attacks and that a doctor was with him when he surrendered.