Saddam Hussein Captured by US Forces

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The intensive manhunt for Saddam Hussein came to an abrupt end Saturday, when American forces captured the ousted dictator after finding him hid away in a dirt hole under a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit.

The arrest, eight months after the fall of Baghdad, was carried out without a shot fired and was a huge victory for U.S. forces.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," U.S. administrator Paul Bremer told a news conference Sunday. "The tyrant is a prisoner."

In an brief presidential address to the nation at noon Sunday, U.S. President George W. Bush said the capture marked the end of a “dark and painful” era in Iraq.

"You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again," Mr. Bush said to the Iraqi people from the White House. "The former Iraqi leader is going to face the justice he denied to millions. This marks the end of the road for him.”

Mr. Hussein was captured Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in a specially prepared "spider hole" in a house in Adwar, a town 15 kilometres from Tikrit, said Lt.-Col. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. The hole was about two-metres deep, with enough space to lie down, camouflaged with bricks and dirt and supplied with an air vent to allow long periods inside.

A U.S. defence official said Mr. Hussein admitted his identity when captured.

Lt. Col. Sanchez, who saw Mr. Hussein overnight, said the deposed leader "has been co-operative and is talkative." He described Mr. Hussein as "a tired man, a man resigned to his fate."

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Right on! this is the best news i've heard in a while. i can only hope that the guerrilla warfare will be toned down now that the insurgents realize saddam will never return. this is good news for the peace, the reconstruction and freedom fighters.