Got Him
Saddam Hussein Captured Near Tikrit By U.S. Forces
URL:http://abcnews.go.com/sections/World/GoodMorningAmerica/saddam_hussein_031214-3.html
B A G H D A D, Iraq, Dec. 13 — Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been captured near his home town of Tikrit, the U.S. military has confirmed.
Saddam, who ruled Iraq for 23 years until his ouster in April, has been a fugitive since then with a $25 million bounty on his head.
Confirmation of his capture came at a news conference in Baghdad after rumors swirled through the Iraqi capital.
The U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer opened the press conference with the words, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got him."
"This is a great day in Iraq's history," Bremer said. "The tyrant is a prisoner."
Bremer said that Saddam was captured Saturday in a cellar in the town of Adwar, 10 miles from Tikrit.
Sanchez described Saddam's demeanor during the arrest, saying he seemed "a tired man. Also I think a man resigned."
Forces from the 4th Infantry Division along with Special Forces captured Saddam, the U.S. military said. There were no shots fired or injuries in the raid, called "Operation Red Dawn," said Lt. Gen. Richardo Sanchez.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed Saddam's capture.
"This is very good news for the people of Iraq. It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime," he said in a statement released by his office.
Trapped in the cellar, Saddam was in a six-to-eight-foot-deep "spider hole" that had been camouflaged with bricks and dirt. The soldiers saw the hole, investigated and found him inside, Sanchez said.
Video played at the press conference showed an air vent and fan inside the hole to allow Saddam to remain hidden for an extended period.
In Baghdad, shop owners closed their doors, worried that all the shooting would make the streets unsafe.
"I'm very happy for the Iraqi people. Life is going to be safer now," said 35-year-old Yehya Hassan, a resident of Baghdad. "Now we can start a new beginning."
There has been no reaction yet to the capture from President Bush, who is at Camp David today. However, British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the capture. "This is very
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good news for the people of Iraq," Blair said.
Video showing a bearded Saddam Hussein was also shown during the news conference.
The video showed him undergoing a medical check. Soldiers took what appeared to be DNA swabs from his mouth. Saddam, with a straggly, greying beard, was not putting up resistance.
A picture which appeared to be taken later showed Saddam clean shaven.
Sanchez said Saddam had $750,000 in cash with him at the time of the capture.
Saddam's capture is also expected to strike a strong psychological blow to the pro-Saddam insurgents who have been attack coalition forces with increasing intensity in recent months.
It was not immediately clear how his identity was confirmed, but the former Iraqi leader is known to have a small tattoo on one hand. Preliminary DNA testing is also thought to have been conducted.
Saddam's capture is a defining moment in the Iraq war and subsequent rebuilding process, and Bush administration officials have hoped it would lessen or break the organized resistance against U.S. troops that have led to scores of deaths since the end of combat operations.
Saddam proved elusive at least twice during the war, when dramatic military strikes came up empty in their efforts to capture him. Since then, he has appeared in both video and audio tapes. U.S. officials named him No. 1 on their list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, the lead card in a special deck of most-wanted cards.
But U.S. officials struck a major blow earlier this year when they killed Saddam's two sons during a raid.
What Now?
Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi said Saddam should be put on trial. "Let him face justice," Chalabi said.
The head of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim said that DNA tests had confirmed that a suspect detained in Iraq was ousted Saddam.
"I have the pleasure to announce on behalf of the Iraqi people that Saddam Hussein has been
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detained," he told a joint news conference with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. "A DNA test has already been carried out."
Sanchez said U.S. forces in Iraq were prepared for any escalation of attacks launched in retaliation for Saddam's capture.
Saddam joined the socialist Baath party when he was 19. He made his mark three years later when he participated in a 1959 assassination attempt against Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Kassim. Saddam was shot in the leg during the botched effort and fled the country for several years, first to Syria, then Egypt.
In 1968, he helped lead the revolt that finally brought the Baath party to power under Gen. Ahmed Hassan Bakr. In the process, he landed the vice president's post, from which he built an elaborate network of secret police to root out dissidents. Eleven years later, in the wake of what has been widely characterized as a coup, Bakr announced his resignation and relinquished the presidency to Saddam.
Soon, the streets of Iraq were plastered with 20-foot-high portraits of the new leader.
Iraqi interim Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Sunday that the arrest of Saddam Hussein by U.S. occupation forces should have a dramatic impact on security in Iraq.
"I think this will have a dramatic effect on security in Iraq," Zebari told BBC World television by telephone from Paris.
"This is the happiest news, the best news. We have waited for so long," he said.
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