U.S. Forces Arrest Saddam Loyalist

TIKRIT, Iraq – U.S. troops arrested a Saddam Hussein (search) loyalist early Sunday suspected in last month's shooting of an American soldier who was saved by his flak jacket, the Army said.

Acting on a neighbor's tip, soldiers arrested the man in a raid on his home in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit (search), said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the Army's 4th Infantry Division.

The soldier allegedly shot by the Iraqi, Sgt. Jeffrey Allen of Leitchfield, Ky., made the arrest, Russell said. Russell described the Iraqi man, whose identity was not revealed, as a member of Saddam's former Fedayeen paramilitary fighters.

Allen was shot twice in the back on Dec. 30 during a patrol in Tikrit. He was saved by the protective back plate in his flak jacket, Russell said.

Soldiers also seized an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition and several photos of the detained man posing with Saddam and the deposed Iraqi dictator's late sons.

Also Sunday, Iraqi police surrounded at least two Tikrit hotels and arrested several men calling themselves migrant workers. The soldiers suspected the men of belonging to the Badr Corps, the military wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Sgt. Bryan Luke said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested in the operation or their countries of origin.