BRUSSELS, April 9 (UPI) -- Europe reacted with a mixture of joy and relief at the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime Wednesday, with even staunch opponents of the war welcoming the quick end to the three-week campaign to capture Baghdad.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who declared his opposition to the conflict even before a shot was fired, said: "There are joyous signs that show that this could soon be the end of the war."
Swedish Premier Goran Persson, another staunch opponent of the U.S.-led war, described the news from Baghdad as "marvelous," adding, "No one wanted this war to continue for one day more."
A spokesman for Tony Blair said the British prime minister was "celebrating" with the Iraqi people as he watched events unfold on television.
However, speaking to Parliament earlier Wednesday, Blair urged caution. "This conflict is not over yet. There is still resistance, not broadly spread among the Iraqi people, but among those parts of Saddam's regime that want to cling on to power."
In London, over 60 jubilant Iraqi exiles sacked the country's embassy, which has remained empty since the start of hostilities.
British newspapers also reacted with glee to news that Saddam's 24-year rule was effectively over. The Sun, Britain's best-selling daily, headlined its online edition with "Liberation" and boasted, "Saddam's rule collapses." The Mirror described the toppling of the Iraqi's leader's statue as a "historic moment."
French and Spanish newspapers, meanwhile, focused much of their attention on the killing of three journalists in Baghdad Tuesday. Cameramen in Madrid, Spain, walked out of a news conference called by Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar, while in Brussels, reporters held a minute's silence for their slain colleagues.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, the head of the only other European country to send troops to the Gulf, compared the collapse of Saddam's dictatorship to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ousting of Rumanian strongman Nicolae Ceaucescu in 1989.
Many European commentators turned their sights to the post-war rule of the oil-rich Middle East state.
Schroder said: "The important thing now is to make a political profit out of a probable and welcome victory. That will only be the case if the Iraqi people can decide itself on its political and economic conditions."
Schroder, French President Jacques Chirac and Russian chief Vladmir Putin are due to sketch out their vision of Iraq's future in St. Petersburg Friday.
The three leaders, who have led Europe's anti-war brigade since the start of the stand-off between Washington and Baghdad, want the United Nations -- rather than the United States -- to control Iraq after the fighting ends.
European Union leaders are likely to back this stance when they meet for a summit in Athens, Greece, next week.
