and funds

DUBAI - Saddam Hussein has given his US captors information on hidden weapons and as much as US$40 billion he may have seized while he was Iraq's president, an Iraqi official was quoted as saying on Monday.

"Saddam has confessed the names of people he told to keep the money and he gave names of those who have information on equipment and weapons warehouses," Iyad Allawi, a member of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily.

"The Governing Council is searching for US$40 billion worth of funds seized by Saddam when he was in power and which has been deposited in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and other countries under the names of fictitious companies," Allawi said.

He said the council had asked international legal companies to track the money.

Earlier this month, Iraq's finance minister said his country was preparing to demand some US$3 billion in cash held in Syrian state banks under deals struck with Saddam's government.

A Syrian official, however, said the amount was in the millions, not billions and Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Fayssal Mekdad, said on Monday his country would co-operate in helping Iraq recover any funds.

"Whatever the amount is, Syria is faithfully implementing Security Council resolutions in this regard," he said.

"We had good discussions with both the United States (and) the Iraqi authorities. I am sure Syria will be working in good faith in the correct direction on the return of these funds."

In the newspaper interview, Allawi said interrogators were now focusing on whether Saddam - arrested by US forces this month and held at an undisclosed site - had any links to militant groups.

"Interrogators are now focusing on the relationship between him and terrorist organizations and on funds paid to groups outside Iraq," Allawi told the newspaper.

It is not clear whether Saddam was behind ambushes that have killed at least 211 US soldiers since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.

The capture of Saddam has not ended guerrilla activity in Iraq, which US officials believe involves non-Iraqi militant Islamist guerrillas and Saddam loyalists.

(Agencies via Xinhua)