Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali, is in US custody, CNN reported on Thursday.

He was fifth on the coalition's list of most wanted Iraqis.

In April, British military officials had claimed that the dead body of Al-Majid was found next to those of his two bodyguards and the head of the Iraqi intelligence services in the southern city of Basra.

Al-Majid was a first cousin of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein and had been asked to defend southern Iraq against the invading American and British troops.

In 1988, Al-Majid led a campaign against rebellious Kurds in northern Iraq. The village of Halabja was bombarded with sarin and mustard gas, which killed an estimated 5,000 people.

They were among the 100,000 Kurds allegedly killed on the orders of Al-Majid and Hussein.

Al-Majid had also been linked to the bloody crackdown on Shiites in southern Iraq following an uprising after the 1991 Gulf War.

He served as governor of Kuwait during Iraq's occupation of the emirate in 1990-1991.