But Air Force Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, operations director of the Joint Staff, cautioned that guerrilla attacks on US troops were likely to persist even if Hussein is killed or captured.

"I think it's safe to say that sources are improving. We have people in custody who are providing information, we have walk-ins who are providing information, and we are continuing to pursue those leads," he said.

An informant last week gave up the Iraqi leader's two sons, Uday and Qusay, who were killed a week ago in a six-hour assault on a mansion in Mosul where they were hiding.

Hussein appeared Tuesday to have broken his silence on the death of his sons in a taped message aired by the Al Arabiya satellite television network.

A speaker identified as Saddam mourned the two and his grandson Mustafa as martyrs and called on Arab youths to join them in a jihad.

Saddam is believed to be the ultimate target of a series of US raids since in Baghdad and Tikrit.

Schwartz would not be drawn on how close US commanders believe they are to netting Saddam.

But US commanders believe "that he relocates repeatedly during the day, and during the night," he said. "This is his standard modus operandi."

"What is new is that we're getting more informants, it's getting better all the time," said Larry DiRita, the Pentagon's chief spokesman.

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