His identity had not been previously made public to give time for his next of kin to be informed, US military officials said.

He was only mentioned in a US military statement on Saturday as an unidentified security detainee who was "pronounced dead by the attending physician at the 344th Corps Support Hospital at 7:30am on December 2."

The cause of death was unclear.

Zubaidi's identity inadvertently came to light during Monday's session of the trial of Saddam and his deputies when Saddam's half brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, cited Zubaidi's death as a reason not to use the US military's detainee medical facilities.

Barzan is suffering from cancer and has asked to be transferred to a hospital -- a request granted by the court.

"All detainees, doesn't matter what their rank is, receive the same high quality medical care as our soldiers," Rudisill said in defense of the facilities.

"If there's something wrong with me, I go to the 344th facility," Rudisill added.

Zubaidi, the Queen of Spades in the deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards issued by the US government during the war in Iraq, was prime minister of Iraq from 1991 until 1993, when the post went to Saddam.

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