BAGHDAD

American forces in Iraq are holding former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who long served as an articulate and strong-nerved negotiator for Saddam Hussein, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Aziz, who made full use of his excellent English to play a starring diplomatic role in the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War when he was foreign minister, appeared in public on March 19, the eve of the start of the war in Iraq to topple Saddam, after rumors that he had been shot or had defected.

Among the ousted Iraqi president's men, the silver-haired, cigar-smoking Aziz is the exception that proved the rule. He is a Christian not linked to the Sunni Muslim Tikriti clan that formed the backbone of Saddam's rule.

"We do have him in custody," said a U.S. defense official. "We have him," said another. "He's pretty easy to identify."