The mystery of Saddam Hussein's whereabouts ended on Sunday when the deposed Iraqi president appeared in US custody after surrendering a day earlier, writes Salah Hemeid Less than 11 hours after receiving a tip off 600 American soldiers and Special Operations forces, backed by tanks, artillery and Apache helicopter gunships, surrounded two farmhouses in the town of Al-Dour, near Tikrit, 120 kilometres north of Baghdad. Near one of them they found Saddam Hussein hiding alone at the bottom of an eight- foot hole. The tip off is believed to have come from one of Saddam's aides or cousins, arrested in Baghdad on Friday and brought to Tikrit Saturday morning for interrogation, according to Col James Hickey who led the raid. Saddam was hiding in a Styrofoam- covered underground hide-out. US Soldiers were seconds away from throwing a hand grenade into the hole when Saddam surrendered, Hickey said. Though he was armed with a pistol Saddam, who said repeatedly before the war that he would not surrender, did not resist. US officials were upbeat. A beaming Paul Bremer announced Saddam's capture at a hurriedly arranged press conference. "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," he declared amid the cheers and applause of Iraqi journalists. "The tyrant is a prisoner," he said. Hours later President George W Bush appeared before cameras to announce that "in the history of Iraq, a dark and painful era is over." Images broadcast on television of Saddam, dishevelled and bearded, were greeted in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities with celebratory gunfire. In several places people were seen offering sweets to passersby. A day after news of Saddam's capture was made public two car bombs exploded in Baghdad killing at least eight people, underlining the fact that Saddam's arrest is unlikely to improve the fragile security situation. Hours later, violence erupted in the flashpoint town of Falluja where pro-Saddam demonstrators stormed the regional government offices. Hundreds of protesters also demonstrated in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, putting up portraits of Saddam and chanting slogans praising the former president. Violence and bombings continued in Baghdad, Mosul, Ramadi and Tikrit where several protesters were killed by American soldiers. Outside Iraq, while many countries cheered the arrest of Saddam others warned it would not end the insurgency plaguing Iraq and did nothing to justify Washington's original decision to go to war. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's staunchest ally on Iraq, said the capture would convince Iraqis that "Saddam has gone from power, he won't be coming back." French President Jacques Chirac, a firm opponent of the war to topple Saddam, said the former president's capture was "a major event that should strongly contribute to democracy and stability in Iraq". Reaction in the Arab and the Muslim world was more muted. "The arrest is an important event," said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher expressed hope that the capture will lead to a speedy transfer of power to Iraqis. Many Arab and Muslim leaders said they were sceptical the capture would mean an end to attacks on US troops. Iran's spiritual leader Ali Khamenei demanded that both US President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon be put in custody with Saddam. On Wednesday Saddam's exact whereabouts were unclear with US officials saying only that he had been moved to a secure location. Iraqi officials claimed he was still in Iraq while the Dubai-based Arab TV station Al-Arabiya said he had been taken to Qatar. US officials say they want to debrief Saddam and their first priority is to focus on the resistance and the whereabouts of Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri and other remaining senior regime officials. Press reports already published, quoting senior military and intelligence personnel, suggest that Saddam has already denied that Iraq was in possession of any weapons of mass destruction, or maintained any links with Al-Qa'eda. The officers and Iraqi officials who met him said he greeted his initial interrogation with a mixture of sarcasm and defiance. His debriefing is clearly a race against the clock, with any information he may be able to provide growing more outdated by the hour as regime leaders and cells change location or take other security precautions to avoid capture. And it remains unclear how much knowledge he could have of such matters. Many observers believe Saddam has been too concerned with his own survival to have played any role within the resistance. US troops found no communications equipment, maps or other evidence of a guerrilla command centre in or around Saddam's hiding place. Meanwhile, Saddam's capture has inevitably prompted questions about his trial. Iraqi officials say he will be tried and could be executed if convicted. Several Iraqi Governing Council members have said a public trial could begin by summer. "He will be tried in an Iraqi court and by Iraqi judges," Hamid Al--Kifaei, spokesman for the council, told Al-Ahram Weekly from Baghdad. "The trial will begin when his questioning is finished," he said. Many countries have demanded a fair and public trial. President Bush has said Washington will work with the people of Iraq to ensure the trial of Saddam stands up to international scrutiny. Bush said the deposed Iraqi leader "will get the justice he denied to millions" but adding that it is up to Iraqis to decide whether Saddam should face the death penalty. The capture of the former Iraqi president and the way his case should be handled has divided the legal profession. International and human rights groups have called for guarantees of due process, including the right to legal representation and the right to appeal.
