“I hope his arrest will aid the efforts of the international community in rebuilding and stabilizing Iraq.” “I was extremely pleased to hear of the capture of Saddam Hussein and I offer my congratulations on this successful operation,” German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said in an official letter to Bush. President George Bush throughout the conflict with Iraq, but the leaders of France and Germany, both high-profile opponents of the war, also congratulated Washington on Sunday. Saddam will not be returning," Blair said.īlair has been the staunchest ally of U.S. "This has lifted a shadow from the people of Iraq. "Now is the time for all Iraqis - Arabs and Kurds, Sunnis, Shia, Christian and Turkmen - to build a prosperous, democratic Iraq, at peace with itself and with its neighbors."īritish Prime Minster Tony Blair was the first western leader to confirm Hussein had been taken alive. forces as to Hussein's location or if anyone would qualify for the $25 million bounty Washington had placed on his head. He did not say whether anyone had tipped off U.S. Hussein is suspected of encouraging resistance to the coalition occupation and supporting attacks against American and allied troops.Īlong with a few small arms, Sanchez said Hussein had around $750,000 (€611,347) in cash with him in the six by eight foot hole. forces for so long has been a major distraction for Washington. That the 66-year-old former leader had been able to elude U.S. He said he had no idea how long he had been hiding there or whether he had been coordinating opposition to the U.S.
general in Iraq, told the press conference. Not a single shot was fired," Sanchez, the top U.S. Sanchez then also showed a video of a bearded and haggard-looking Hussein being given a medical exam. He said Hussein was captured without resistance after being found in a small underground hideout. special forces raided a farm house near Tikrit late on Saturday. civilian administrator in Iraq, told a televised press conference in Baghdad. “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him,” Paul Bremer, the U.S. His arrest will likely be a huge boost to the American occupation, which has had difficulty stabilizing postwar Iraq. On the run from U.S.-led coalition forces since the fall of Baghdad in April, Hussein has been Washington’s most-wanted member of the Iraqi regime.