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Saddam's capture gives major boost to Coalition mission in Iraq

"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!" With those words Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq, announced the capture of Saddam Hussein to rapturous applause at a press conference in Baghdad, held at around 12.14GMT today. The fugitive Iraqi dictator had eluded Coalition forces since major hostilities ended in May.

"Saddam Hussein was captured Saturday December 13, at about 8.30pm local, in a cellar in the town of Ad Dawr, which is about 15km south of Tikrit," said Bremer. He went on to appeal for an end to continued Iraqi resistance: "The tyrant is a prisoner; the economy is moving forward; you have before you the prospect of a sovereign government in a few months. With the arrest of Saddam Hussein, there is a new opportunity for the members of the former regime, whether military or civilian, to end their bitter opposition. Let them now come forward in a spirit of reconciliation and hope, lay down their arms and join you, their fellow citizens, in the task of building the new Iraq."

Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Coalition Joint Task Force Seven in Iraq, revealed that Saddam was captured in an operation codenamed 'Red Dawn' involving 600 soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, including special forces as well as cavalry, artillery, aviation and engineering assets. "Not a shot was fired," said Gen Sanchez, when Saddam was uncovered hiding in a 'spiderhole' at a rural farmhouse following a cordon-and-search operation in the town of Ad Dawr.

Asked at the news conference whether the operation to capture Saddam was mounted as a result of a tip-off, Gen Sanchez replied only that the forces moved on "actionable intelligence". US forces recently formed Task Force 121, a special operations unit tasked with hunting down Saddam and other senior Ba'athists, and a new intelligence centre has been established to identify Iraqi resistance figures and provide data to forces like Task Force 121.

Saddam --- the 'Ace of Spades' in the pack of 55 top Ba'athist leaders on the US wanted list -- is the 45th figure to be captured or killed. Just as with the killing of his sons Uday and Qusay in a fierce firefight in Mosul on 22 July, celebratory gunfire broke out all over the country as news emerged of his capture. When video footage of a tired, bearded Saddam was shown undergoing a medical examination at the CPA press conference, exultant shouting and applause from local journalists temporarily interrupted the proceedings as it became clear the man in US custody was indeed Saddam. Although it was said that DNA tests were underway and that confirmations from other detainees had proved his identity, the video footage of the deposed leader -- alive, unlike his sons -- rendered this all but redundant. Local journalists called on Bremer and Gen Sanchez to show the captured Saddam on Iraqi TV.

Saddam is currently being held at an undisclosed location by US forces. He will tried in Iraq by an Iraqi court.

US coalition leaders clearly hope Saddam's capture will, over the longer term, lead to a reduction in the number of attacks mounted on coalition forces from diehard Ba'athists, although Gen Sanchez cautioned that he did not expect an immediate drop in the number of anti-coalition attacks. "We do not expect at this point in time that we will have a complete elimination of those attacks," said the general, "but we are much closer to a safe and secure environment here in the country." He also made it clear that the remaining senior leaders of the former regime still at large will continue to be hunted down: "We will not slack off until we have brought security and stability to the country," he said.

Regardless of whether the Iraqi dictator had any direct control over anti-coalition operations himself, while he evaded capture the diehard Baathists from the former regime retained a focus for their opposition. At the same time, many operations against coalition troops were motivated by money more than ideology, with young Iraqis with a propensity for criminal violence able to earn enough to buy a car with the planting of a couple of roadside bombs. US engineers speaking to Jane's Defence Weekly in Baghdad in September noted that the planting of roadside bombs typically involved two payments from the Ba'athists funding such attacks: one to the bomb-maker, and one to whoever was prepared to plant the device.

Saddam's apprehension should ultimately put a dent in the finances and motivation for continuing such attacks, but what his capture is not likely to diminish, however, is the targeting of US and other coalition forces by militant Islamic extremists exploiting Iraq as a still-fragmented and target-rich environment.

With the Ace of Spades now in custody, there are just 10 other senior Ba'athists unaccounted for in the pack of 55 most wanted Iraqi leaders.

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