BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- After eluding coalition forces for months and vowing never to be taken alive, a disheveled Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a hidden hole near a farmhouse and was captured without firing a shot, coalition authorities announced Sunday.
"The former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions," President Bush said in a short televised address from the White House. "For the Ba'athist holdouts responsible for the violence, there will be no return to the corrupt power and privilege they once held.
"This afternoon I have a message for the Iraqi people: This is further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever. You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again."
The president cautioned that violence in Iraq was not finished, and almost simultaneously with his remarks, a loud explosion jolted the Iraqi evening near the Palestine Hotel, where many international journalists are based. Thick smoke and fire billowed away from the site, but it was not immediately clear what the blast was.
Earlier, in Baghdad, coalition civilian administration L. Paul Bremer brought Iraqi journalists at a news conference to their feet with shouts of joy when he said, simply, "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."
The audience responded with cheers, and Iraqis took to Baghdad streets dancing, doling out candy and firing rifles into the air. But in Tikrit -- Saddam's ancestral hometown and a base of loyalty to him -- the streets were quiet. (Map: Site of Saddam Hussein's capture)
Later, when Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who leads coalition troops in Iraq, showed video of the bearded, bewildered-looking fugitive undergoing a medical exam after his capture, the Iraqi journalists again leapt from the seats, shouting "Death to Saddam."
"He had a pistol on him" but didn't use it, said Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division troops that carried out the raid. "He didn't say anything."
Iraqi council interviews Saddam after capture
Sanchez said the former leader was uninjured, "talkative and cooperative," after his capture in the raid, dubbed Operation Red Dawn.
However, members of the Iraqi Governing Council said Sunday when they went to see Saddam Hussein they found him "tired and haggard, unrepentant, even defiant."
Four members of the council, who were taken to see Saddam after his capture by U.S. troops, said Saddam insisted to them he was "a just but firm ruler."
Asked about thousands killed and dumped in mass graves, Saddam dismissed his victims saying "they were thieves," said one council member.
"He was not apologetic. He was sarcastic and making a mockery of Iraqi people," said one member of the council.
About 600 4th Infantry Division soldiers and Special Operations forces from Task Force 121 conducted the raid in Adwar, near a compound of ramshackle buildings, about 9 miles outside Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, on Saturday night.
Odierno said that was "very disoriented," and did not resist U.S. forces.
Found hiding in a 'spider hole'
The soldiers found Saddam hiding in what they called a "spider hole," six-to-eight feet deep, equipped with a rudimentary ventilation system and camouflaged with bricks and dirt.
He said that U.S. forces had been targeting associates of Saddam and focused on people with family or tribal ties to him.
"Over the last 10 days or so we brought in about five to ten members who then were then able to give us more information and finally we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals," Odierno said.
U.S. forces found weapons and about $750,000 in U.S. $100 bills with the former dictator, Sanchez said, along with two AK-47s, a pistol and a white and orange taxi.
Exclusive CNN video shot following that raid, showed a group of U.S.-led coalition soldiers patting each other on the back -- apparently in celebration -- and taking group photos in front of a military vehicle. (On the Scene: Alphonso Van Marsh)
Iraqis celebrate news
As word of Saddam's capture spread, crowds of Iraqis began celebrating in the streets, dancing, firing gunshots into the air and honking car horns. (On the Scene: Satinder Bindra)
"I'm very happy for the Iraqi people. Life is going to be safer now," 35-year-old Yehya Hassan, a resident of Baghdad, told The Associated Press. "Now we can start a new beginning."
And in Kirkuk, Mustapha Sheriff told The Associated Press, "We are celebrating like it's a wedding. We are finally rid of that criminal." (Full story)
The 66-year-old longtime Iraqi leader was No. 1 on the coalition's 55 most wanted list, and his evasion has been a political sore spot for the U.S. administration. (Saddam profile) (The Hunt for Saddam)
More details, reaction
|
Saddam Hussein has long hair
and a beard in video released by coalition authorities after his capture. |
• Adnan Pachaci, a leading member of the Iraqi Governing Council, said Saddam would be tried for his crimes against Iraqis, and would be tried by Iraqis. "The terrorist, Saddam Hussein, the biggest terrorist on earth, has been arrested," said Hamid Ali al-Kifaey. "He will be tried before a special court in Iraq soon. With his arrest the Iraqi people will begin a new life, and hopefully they will have a democratic and pluralistic system and no more mass graves, and no more Saddam Hussein and no more terrorism."
• British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of President Bush's strongest allies in the Iraq war, called the capture good news for Iraqis, saying: "It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime." (Full story)
• Saddam's capture was also praised by officials from France, Russia and Germany, who bitterly opposed the war. A statement from French President Jacques Chirac, said "The president is delighted with Saddam Hussein's arrest." (World reaction)
• Hours after the capture -- but before it was announced -- a car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi police station in Khaldiyah, killing at least 10 Iraqis and wounding 20 others, most of them policemen, U.S. officials said. Iraqi officials reported a higher casualty toll. (Full story)
_______________________________________________ Sndbox mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://a8.mewebdns-a8.com/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
