Saddam Hussein Captured!

SADDAM CAPTURED

Tony Blair has confirmed that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in his home town of Tikrit.


Reports say Saddam was "dug out of a cellar" from a house in a poverty-stricken area during a raid by US forces, backed by Kurdish troops.

It is claimed that DNA tests have been carried out and his identity confirmed.

Saddam was apparently found with a suitcase containing half a million dollars worth of cash.

Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, has said Saddam will probably be put on trial.

A spokesman for the INC said: "We are 100% sure Saddam has been detained by American forces."

A top Iraqi official said US administrator Paul Bremer called Iraqi leaders by telephone to tell them the news.

The US Defence Department is still refusing to confirm the reports but a press conference has been announced for 12pm GMT.

In Baghdad, a spokeswoman for the US-led operation notified reporters that a "very important" announcement will be made at the press conference. It is not known who the speaker will be.

The news is spreading around Iraq rapidly and hundreds of exultant people have taken to the streets of Kirkuk and Baghdad firing weapons into the air in celebration.

From SkyNews
:sohappy: :sohappy:

All the news channels are reporting this, so if you turn on the tv you should hear it I really hope this is true!

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 in custody receiving a medical check up 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.»
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.


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.


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.

My husband called (and woke me up) to tell me.

Interestingly, we were watching c-span yesterday, where a panel of "talk radio" hosts and producers (both conservative and liberals) were speculating on the "big" news stories for 2004. Several of them felt that both Hussein and Osama would be captured by October.

One down, one to go. I hope this speeds up the stabilization process in Iraq, but I still think it's going to be a long process. Check your history books to see how long it took in Japan and Germany after WWII.

How can he be captured?! THERE ARE NO AMERICANS IN IRAQ!! :animwink:



:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

Yay! :sohappy: :sohappy:


Great!!! Start the war crimes tribunals! :sohappy: :sohappy:

My cell phone just about blew up this morning at 4:30am as soon as this started hitting the wires, with collegues calling me. lol







*refrains from making comments about how much i still dislike bush no matter what though* :lookaroun

Jerry brought up a good point - let's leave politics out of this. Since we're supposed to. :lol:

This is great news for all of us and for the troops in Iraq, but I'm not happy.....my Dad called me and woke me up at 6:45 this morning to tell me. I was not a happy camper!

:sohappy: I thought we wouldn't see this day until next year... :lookaroun

Yay !!! finally he was captured like a rat in a hole Yay !!!!

I found out by the Spanish Channel!! :sohappy:

Originally posted by tiggerlover1971
Yay !!! finally he was captured like a rat in a hole Yay !!!!

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Literally :lol:

YAY!
This is a happy day!:sohappy: :sohappy:

*Pours eggnog down Jer`s pants* :lol: :animwink:

Happy Holidays everybody.

:wave:


Now get home, guys.

I didn't find out until I sat down at the computer this afternoon...nobody thought to tell me..."I forgot"!

This is great news! :sohappy: :sohappy:

Great for America. Great for our troops. Great for our President. But most importantly, great for the Iraqi people who no longer have to suffer under such a cruel dictator nor ever fear his return to power.

Now if we could only find Osama :lookaroun

time to add some levity and bad humor

Originally posted by Kicker

Now get home, guys.

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Let´s pray for that!

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