An ambush on the outskirts of Tikrit killed three U.S. soldiers and injured two late Thursday night, according to a U.S. military spokesman. Lieutenant-Colonel William McDonald said the three soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were killed by a small arms fire in the Al-Ouja village, located south of Tikrit, when they were on patrol, inspecting a suspected weapons site. The two wounded were evacuated to a medical treatment facility. **Iraqi Minister of Defense Surrendered*** Former General Sultan Hasheem Ahmad, ousted leader Saddam's minister of defense, surrendered to the US General in charge of northern Iraq Friday following weeks of negotiations, a Kurdish mediator said. According to AP, Dawood Bagistani, who arranged the surrender to Major General David Petraeus, said Ahmad, who was 27 on the United States' "wanted list" was handed over "with great respect" and was with his family members at the time. Ahmed is a graduate of Baghdad's Military Academy and is considered a professional soldier, not involved too much with politics. In a related development, U.S. occupation forces have captured an aide to one of Saddam's deputies who is high on America's most-wanted list of Iraqis, a U.S. commander in northern Iraq disclosed Thursday. Col. Joe Anderson, commander of 2nd brigade of 101st Airborne Division, which occupies much of northern Iraq, stated his forces several days ago arrested a secretary for the vice chairman of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. Al-Douri is No. 6 on the most-wanted list of 55 Saddam's regime officials. His daughter was married to Saddam's eldest son, Udai. **US Troops 'Mistakenly' Kill Italian Envoy Aide*** American soldiers in northern Iraq mistakenly fired on a car carrying the Italian official heading up U.S. efforts to recover Iraq's looted antiquities, killing the man's Iraqi interpreter, an official said Friday in Rome. The Italian, Pietro Cordone, was unhurt. Cordone, who is the senior adviser for cultural affairs of the U.S. provisional authority and the top Italian diplomat in the country, was traveling between Mosul and Tikrit on Thursday when his car was fired on at a U.S. roadblock, said a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said American troops fired at the car, and that Cordone's Iraqi interpreter was killed. The official said it appeared the car's driver **did not understand*** signals from the American troops, and that the Americans didn't understand what the car was trying to do. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A US army truck burns following an ambush in the town of Khaldiyah, about 80 kms west of Baghdad.(AFP/Zuhair Al-Sudany)