Senior Baath Party leader in U.S. custody

? Reports of a death notice and a mourning ceremony did not fool U.S. forces tracking down Aziz Saleh al-Numan, the highest-ranking capture on the list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis.

U.S. forces captured al-Numan, a former senior Baath Party leader, despite the reported efforts by his family to throw them off track. He was No. 8 on Central Command’s list.

Al-Numan “is now in custody of coalition forces,” a brief U.S. Central Command statement said Thursday. He was captured by coalition forces Wednesday.

U.S. officials have said al-Numan is one of nine top Iraqi leaders whom the United States wants to see tried for war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Several days ago his relatives reportedly published an advertisement in one of Baghdad’s new newspapers saying that he died of a heart attack. It said his sister held a mourning ceremony at her house in the Dawoudi district in Baghdad.