Saddam Hussein captured by US occupation forces
Sunday 12/14/2003
Saddam Hussein was captured uninjured, along with two unidentified companions, December 13 about 8:30 p.m. local time by about 600 coalition forces in a small town some 15 kilometers south of his hometown of Tikrit. Little resistance was encountered, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of occupation ground forces in Iraq, reported at the press conference with Bremer. The former Iraqi leader was found hiding in what Sanchez described as a "spider hole" about 8 feet underground.
Sanchez, who was with Saddam Hussein during his subsequent medical exam and questioning, said that Saddam Hussein was cooperative and appeared to be in good health, but described him as a man who was "tired" and "resigned to his fate." Video footage of a heavily bearded Saddam Hussein undergoing a medical examination was shown at the press conference.
Saddam Hussein is being held in coalition custody at an undisclosed location for DNA identification, but other Iraqi detainees have positively identified him, Sanchez said.
Adnan Pachachi, acting president of the Iraqi Governing Council, said through a translator at the press conference with Bremer and Sanchez that a special tribunal would be established to determine Saddam Hussein's fate. Pachachi also spoke of establishing a constitution for Iraq and conducting general elections.
US President George W. Bush said today that "He was found near a farmhouse outside the city of Tikrit, in a swift raid conducted without casualties. And now the former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions."
Sanchez warned that there is "still a lot of work to do" in identifying and capturing other leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime. He said coalition forces would continue to "hunt them down" and would not leave the country until security and stability are established in Iraq.
Worth noting that the US invaded Iraq under pretext that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and posed a serious and imminent threat to the USA.