Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has joined Osama bin Laden at the top echelons of the list of America's most wanted men, United States officials in Baghdad have confirmed.

Saddam and the Al Qaeda chief are now the two most sought after prizes of a massive and worldwide intelligence operation.

The US has also put a £127,000 bounty on the heads of Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay who, like their father, have vanished from Baghdad.

The brothers rank on the wanted list alongside the Taliban's spiritual leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who has been in hiding since the US-led attack on Afghanistan.

US officials say they are determined to capture Saddam, believing the war will not be seen to be over until he is brought to justice.

But the hunt for the toppled dictator and members of his regime has so far proved as frustrating as the search for bin Laden and his supporters.

US special operations forces and CIA agents searching Iraqi palaces and government offices have not found any document or leads to where Saddam could be. 

American military officials say Ba'ath Party buildings have been 'professionally and meticulously' cleaned out.

Some intelligence experts believe that if Saddam survived the two decapitation strikes against him he may have fled to Syria.

Washington has accused Syria of harbouring leaders of the fallen Iraqi regime. Other reports have suggested Saddam and his sons could be hiding in Yemen, Jordan, Russia or one of the former Soviet republics.

Among Iraqis the most commonly held belief is that Saddam and his family have found refuge in Russia where they will be given life long protection in return for investing their considerable assets, believed to be in the range of $30 billion.

Some Iraqis are convinced that Saddam has supernatural powers and can appear or disappear at whim. They say he was spotted wielding a rocket propelled grenade at the beginning of the battle for Baghdad, but vanished soon afterwards.

They say the local witches and magicians he used to consult throughout his life have helped him to a safe place where he will never be found.

Rediff.com Senior Editor Shyam Bhatia is the co-author of Saddam's Bomb, on Iraq's search for nuclear weapons