Staff and agencies
Sunday December 14, 2003
Prime Minister Tony Blair this morning confirmed that a man captured in a military operation last night is deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The announcement at 11.15am confirmed rumours that Saddam was captured in a basement in his hometown of Tikrit last night as part of a US military operation. Reports from Basra and Baghdad say that shots of celebratory gunfire were heard this morning as the news spread through the cities.
Mr Blair also confirmed that Saddam would be put on trial by in an Iraqi court. So far the White House and Pentagon have not made any official comment on the reports, but a press statement is expected to be issued at 12pm today which will give further details and confirmation."
Here is more from the Washington Post.
Iraq Council Confirms Saddam Caught Alive
By HAMZA HENDAWI
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 14, 2003; 6:54 AM
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. military captured Saddam Hussein alive in his hometown of Tikrit on Sunday, eight months after the fall of Baghdad, the Iraqi Governing Council said. Celebratory gunfire erupted in Baghdad.
The statement said Saddam was captured in a joint operation by troops from the U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish Iraqi forces.
"He was wearing a fake beard and laboratory tests have proven his identity beyond any doubt," said the statement.
U.S. officials said only that the U.S. military captured a man in the basement of a building in Tikrit during raids seeking Saddam and that initial efforts to verify his identity indicate he is the deposed Iraqi dictator.
"It certainly looks good," one senior U.S. official said, cautioning more scientific testing, possibly DNA, was being done early Sunday morning to try to confirm the identity.
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.
Saddam was trapped in a cellar, dug a hole and buried himself as U.S. soldiers moved into the house where he was hiding, an Iraqi official said Sunday.
"The American soldiers had to use shovels to dig him out," Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, told The Associated Press.
Qanbar, basing his account on reports from members of the U.S.-led occupation authority, said Saddam had a salt-and-pepper beard when he was captured. Soldiers photographed him, shaved the beard and photographed him again before running DNA tests, he said.
"The DNA test confirmed 100 percent Saddam Hussein's identity," he said.
Qanbar said the capture took place "in a town very close to Tikrit," Saddam's hometown 100 miles north of Baghdad.
