Saddam Hussein has been captured in Iraq

‘The tyrant is a prisoner,’ top U.S. administrator says

NBC News and news services

Updated: 11:28 a.m. ET Dec. 14, 2003

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eight months after the fall of his government, Saddam
Hussein was captured by coalition forces near his hometown of Tikrit, where
he was hiding in a farmhouse cellar, U.S. officials said Sunday. The arrest
was a major victory for the coalition that has been battling an insurgency
for months.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said
at a news conference in Baghdad, adding: "The tyrant is a prisoner."

Bremer said the former Iraqi president was captured Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in
the town of Dour, 10 miles south of Tikrit, ending one of the most intense
manhunts in history.

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, who saw Saddam overnight, said the
deposed leader "has been cooperative and is talkative." He described Saddam
as "a tired man, a man resigned to his fate."

In the capital, radio stations played celebratory music, residents fired
small arms in the air in celebration and passengers on buses and trucks
shouted, "They got Saddam! They got Saddam!"

Video of a tired Saddam

At the news conference announcing his capture, U.S. forces aired a video
showing a bearded Saddam being examined by a doctor who held his mouth open
with a tongue depressor, apparently to get a DNA sample. Then they showed a
photograph of Saddam after he was shaved.

Iraqi journalists in the audience stood, pointed and shouted "Death to
Saddam!" and "Down with Saddam!"

The former Iraqi leader was being held at an undisclosed location, said the
top U.S. soldier in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. He added that U.S.
authorities had yet to determine whether to hand him over to a new Iraqi
tribunal for trial.

"This success brings closure to the Iraqi people," Sanchez said.

"Saddam Hussein will never return to a position of power from which he can
punish, terrorize, intimidate and exploit the Iraqi people as the did for
more than 35 years."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the 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.

"This fear is now removed," the statement continued. "It also gives an
opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts for his crimes against
the Iraqi people. We should try now to unite the whole of Iraq in rebuilding
the country and offering it a new future."

Blair added, "I pay tribute to the work of the coalition intelligence and
military forces in capturing him."

The prime minister faced substantial domestic opposition for his decision to
commit British troops to the Iraq war and is sure to get a major political
boost from the reported capture.

Operation Red Dawn

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," Sanchez said.

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.

The video showed an air vent and fan inside the hole to allow Saddam to
remain hidden for an extended period.

Two men "affiliated with Saddam Hussein" were detained with him, and
soldiers confiscated two Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, a taxi and US$750,000
in $100 bills, Sanchez said.

Celebrations in Baghdad

Celebratory gunfire erupted in the capital, and shop owners closed their
doors, fearful that 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."

Earlier in the day, rumors of the capture sent people streaming into the
streets of Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city, firing guns in the air in
celebration.

"We are celebrating like it's a wedding," said Kirkuk resident Mustapha
Sheriff. "We are finally rid of that criminal."

"This is the joy of a lifetime," said Ali Al-Bashiri, another resident. "I
am speaking on behalf of all the people that suffered under his rule."

In Tikrit, U.S. soldiers lit up cigars after hearing the news of Saddam's
capture.

"The intimidation and fear this man generated for over 30 years are now
gone," said Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, who commands the division that
carried out the raid.

Some skepticism

Despite the celebration throughout Baghdad, many residents were skeptical.

"I heard the news, but I'll believe it when I see it," said Mohaned
al-Hasaji, 33. "They need to show us that they really have him." Ayet
Bassem, 24, walked out of a shop with her 6-year-old son.

"Things will be better for my son," she said. "Everyone says everything will
be better when Saddam is caught. My son now has a future."

From hiding, U.S. commanders have said Saddam played some role in the
anti-U.S. resistance that has killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians in
Iraq.

In the latest attack, a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives in a
car outside a police station Sunday morning west of Baghdad, killing at
least 17 people and wounding 33 more, the U.S. military said.

After invading Iraq on March 20 and setting up their headquarters in
Saddam's sprawling Republican Palace compound in Baghdad, U.S. troops
launched a massive manhunt for the fugitive leader, placing a US$25 million
bounty on his head and sending thousands of soldiers to search for him.

NBC News correspondents, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to
this story.

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