Iraq's former defence minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmed, has surrendered to the US forces, an Iraqi mediator said on Friday.

Dawood Bagistani, a human rights official who negotiated the surrender deal, told a news conference in Mosul that Ahmed -- number 27 on Washington's wanted list of former top officials under Saddam Hussein -- surrendered at a house in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and was being taken to Baghdad by US forces.

With this, 40 of the top 55 former Iraqi officials have either been apprehended or killed.

"At eight o'clock this morning, Sultan Hashim Ahmed and his family surrendered to coalition forces," he said.

However, he clarified, Ahmed surrendered only after US officials agreed in negotiations that he was innocent of any  crimes."We didn't take this step until the US announced that Sultan Hashim was innocent of crimes," said Bagistani. "This is a moral commitment by the US government."

Hence, unlike most of the other members on the list of 55 most wanted who will face trial at some stage, he will not be prosecuted but released after questioning, Baghestani said.

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