Iraqi security forces have nabbed the son of a half-brother of Saddam Hussein believed backing the insurgent attacks, the interim government said on Sunday.

The government said in a statement that Ibrahim Sabaawi, nephew of Saddam, was captured near Baghdad without giving more details.

The government said the detainee was a "insider" of Saddam's regime and a key "financial supporter" for the insurgency in Iraq.

His father Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a half-brother of Saddam and one of the 55 most wanted former officials, has been put in jail and watched by the US captors.

Iraqi and US officials have blamed supporters of Saddam's former regime for the hit-and-run insurgent attacks against the US forces and US-backed Iraqi government.

Source: Xinhua