The Associated Press

Saddam Hussein was captured based on information from a member of a family "close to him," Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno said Sunday.

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Odierno, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division that captured Saddam, said over the last 10 days soldiers have questioned "five to 10 members" of families "close to Saddam."

"Finally we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals," he said.

Odierno said intelligence indicated the target of the raid was Saddam himself.

"We thought it was Saddam," he said.

But he said the soldiers participating in the raid didn't know who the target was until he was captured.

DNA identification hurry-up job

A DNA test like the one that apparently helped confirm Saddam Hussein's identity can be done in as little as 12 hours, a forensics expert says.

New York City's DNA lab has done such speedy tests for very rare high-priority cases, said Robert Shaler, director of the department of forensic biology in the office of the city's chief medical examiner.

"If you have a single sample and you stop everything else you're doing, you can get it done," he said. That would occur, for example, if police have arrested a suspect and can hold him only temporarily unless DNA matches him to a serious crime, he said.

"I'm not surprised" by reports that Saddam had been identified through DNA less than 24 hours after his capture, Shaler said Sunday.

Details about a DNA test on Saddam were not entirely clear. Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, the president of the Iraqi Governing Council, said such a test confirmed Saddam's identity.

An American defense official also said Saddam admitted his identity when captured and that more conclusive tests were being done. DNA confirmation would show the captured man was not a body double of Saddam, a man who was said to have several look-alikes while he was in power.

4th Infantry packs biggest punch

The U.S. soldiers who captured Saddam Hussein belong to the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), based at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Carson, Colo. Their 15,000-plus soldiers have been deployed in Iraq since April, and they operate north of Baghdad, where Saddam loyalists and diehards from his Baath Party are most numerous.

The 4th Infantry, known as the Iron Horse Division, packs the biggest punch of any division in the Army. It's the Army's first high-tech division, outfitted with the latest-model Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles equipped with digital communications equipment, night-fighting gear and advanced weaponry.

Formed in 1917 as an infantry unit, the 4th Division fought in World War I, landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, and fought for five years in the Vietnam War. After Vietnam it was reorganized as a mechanized infantry outfit.

Earlier this year, the division intended to land in Turkey and attack Iraq from the north. Its tanks, helicopters and gear were on ships offshore when negotiations with the Turkish government stalled.

Saddam's war chest: $750,000

Among the items found in Saddam Hussein's lair was $750,000 in U.S. currency - all in $100 bills.

Saddam was caught with a pistol, which he didn't try to use, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno said. Soldiers also found two Kalashnikov rifles and a taxi.

No radios, computers, satellite phones or any other communication devices were found at the farm, the general said.

Two other Iraqis, believed to be Saddam's aides, were also arrested in the raid.