Post by Merkuri on Dec 14, 2003 9:03:22 GMT -5
From the BBC:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3317429.stm
Saddam Hussein arrested in Iraq
Video footage of Saddam receiving a medical check was shown
Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been captured by US forces, says the US chief administrator in Iraq.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," Paul Bremer said at a news conference in the capital, Baghdad, prompting loud cheers from Iraqis in the audience.
The former leader was found hiding in a cellar in a town about 30 kilometres south of his ancestral hometown Tikrit.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has welcomed the news, saying it "removes the shadow" hanging over Iraq.
Saddam Hussein is the most wanted man on the list issued by US authorities but has not been seen since Baghdad fell to US forces in April.
Video footage apparently showing a dishevelled-looking Saddam with a long black beard receiving a medical check-up in custody was shown at the press conference.
'No resistance'
I'm very happy for the Iraqi people, life is going to be safer now... now we can start a new beginning.ยป
Baghdad resident Yehya Hassan
Saddam Hussein was found following intelligence indicating he was at one of two possible locations south of Tikrit, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq.
A large contingent of US forces conducted extensive searches of the area and found a small rural farmhouse..
A "spider hole" was detected within the house with an entrance camouflaged with bricks and dirt.
When uncovered, US troops found the former Iraqi president in a hole barely six to eight feet (1.8m to 2.5m) deep.
Colonel Sanchez said he offered no resistance.
Two unidentified people said to be "close allies" of Saddam Hussein were also arrested and weapons and more than $750,000 cash were confiscated.
Intensive search
Iraqi Governing Council head Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim was quoted as saying that a DNA test had proved the man in custody was Saddam Hussein.
The news comes as violence continued in Iraq, with at least 17 people killed and 30 wounded after a powerful car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police station in Khalidiyah, about 35 miles (60 km) west of Baghdad.
People were seen celebrating in the streets of Baghdad
US officials say it may have been a suicide attack.
Saddam Hussein had been the object of intensive searches by US-led forces in Iraq but previous attempts to locate him had proved unsuccessful.
People have started celebrating the capture of their former president in the streets of Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk by sounding their horns and firing into the air.
The former Iraqi leader was last seen in television footage shot in April at a Baghdad market just before the city fell to US forces in the recent Iraq conflict.
US authorities have offered a $25m reward for information leading to his capture.
On 22 July his sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in a raid by US forces in the northern city of Mosul.
Intelligence
In October, US officials said they had intelligence indicating Saddam Hussein was hiding in Tikrit.
Saddam Hussein's sons were killed in a US raid in July
They said he seemed to be moving around various safe houses with the aid of family members, often in disguise.
Saddam Hussein was born in Tikrit and has a tight network of family and clan ties which permeated all of the regime's main military, security and political institutions while he was in power.
Coalition authorities have said that the former Iraqi president could be tried at a war crimes tribunal, with Iraqi judges presiding and international legal experts acting as advisers.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3317429.stm
Saddam Hussein arrested in Iraq
Video footage of Saddam receiving a medical check was shown
Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been captured by US forces, says the US chief administrator in Iraq.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," Paul Bremer said at a news conference in the capital, Baghdad, prompting loud cheers from Iraqis in the audience.
The former leader was found hiding in a cellar in a town about 30 kilometres south of his ancestral hometown Tikrit.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has welcomed the news, saying it "removes the shadow" hanging over Iraq.
Saddam Hussein is the most wanted man on the list issued by US authorities but has not been seen since Baghdad fell to US forces in April.
Video footage apparently showing a dishevelled-looking Saddam with a long black beard receiving a medical check-up in custody was shown at the press conference.
'No resistance'
I'm very happy for the Iraqi people, life is going to be safer now... now we can start a new beginning.ยป
Baghdad resident Yehya Hassan
Saddam Hussein was found following intelligence indicating he was at one of two possible locations south of Tikrit, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq.
A large contingent of US forces conducted extensive searches of the area and found a small rural farmhouse..
A "spider hole" was detected within the house with an entrance camouflaged with bricks and dirt.
When uncovered, US troops found the former Iraqi president in a hole barely six to eight feet (1.8m to 2.5m) deep.
Colonel Sanchez said he offered no resistance.
Two unidentified people said to be "close allies" of Saddam Hussein were also arrested and weapons and more than $750,000 cash were confiscated.
Intensive search
Iraqi Governing Council head Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim was quoted as saying that a DNA test had proved the man in custody was Saddam Hussein.
The news comes as violence continued in Iraq, with at least 17 people killed and 30 wounded after a powerful car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police station in Khalidiyah, about 35 miles (60 km) west of Baghdad.
People were seen celebrating in the streets of Baghdad
US officials say it may have been a suicide attack.
Saddam Hussein had been the object of intensive searches by US-led forces in Iraq but previous attempts to locate him had proved unsuccessful.
People have started celebrating the capture of their former president in the streets of Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk by sounding their horns and firing into the air.
The former Iraqi leader was last seen in television footage shot in April at a Baghdad market just before the city fell to US forces in the recent Iraq conflict.
US authorities have offered a $25m reward for information leading to his capture.
On 22 July his sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in a raid by US forces in the northern city of Mosul.
Intelligence
In October, US officials said they had intelligence indicating Saddam Hussein was hiding in Tikrit.
Saddam Hussein's sons were killed in a US raid in July
They said he seemed to be moving around various safe houses with the aid of family members, often in disguise.
Saddam Hussein was born in Tikrit and has a tight network of family and clan ties which permeated all of the regime's main military, security and political institutions while he was in power.
Coalition authorities have said that the former Iraqi president could be tried at a war crimes tribunal, with Iraqi judges presiding and international legal experts acting as advisers.
