Sun April 20, 2003 07:50 PM ET

By Hassan Hafidh
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces in Iraq said on Sunday they seized Saddam Hussein's science minister and a leading Iraqi opposition group said Saddam's sole surviving son-in-law had surrendered to them, bringing to seven the number of "most wanted" Iraqis in U.S. and opposition hands.

Abdul-Khaleq Abdul-Ghafur, Saddam's minister of higher education and scientific research and number 43 on the U.S. list of 55 most wanted Iraqis, was taken into custody on Saturday, a U.S. military central command statement said.

The Iraqi National Congress, an opposition group with close ties to Washington, said Jamal Mustafa Sultan al-Tikriti, number 40 on the 55 "most-wanted" list, returned from Syria to surrender to them and would be handed to U.S. forces.

"He is the first close member of the family to be detained," said the group's spokesman, Zaab Sethna, noting that Jamal had served as Saddam's private secretary right up until the end. He said Jamal had fled to Syria but the INC had persuaded him to come back to Baghdad and give himself up.

Two of Saddam's half brothers have already been detained but Sethna said they were estranged from Saddam, making Jamal the biggest catch. Saddam had killed his other two sons-in-law, Sethna added.

The revelation that Jamal had been hiding in Syria came hours after President Bush said there were "positive signs" that Syria was heeding U.S. calls to deny sanctuary to fleeing members of Saddam's administration.

Increased U.S. pressure on Syria since U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam has fueled speculation that Damascus could be the next target in Bush's campaign against nations he accuses of aiding global terrorism.