BAGHDAD, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured and is in custody following a nighttime raid where he was found hiding at the bottom of a hole in a remote farm compound near Tikrit.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!" said Paul Bremer, coalition authority administrator, at a news conference in Baghdad, where Saddam reigned until the U.S. and Britain invaded the country in March.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, head of ground forces in Iraq, showed startling photos of the man he said was Saddam being given a medical examination after capture. Saddam had a wild beard and unkempt hair. Sanchez then showed a photo after he had been shaved.
"Saddam Hussein was found hiding at the bottom of the hole" that U.S. troops uncovered after raiding two farm complexes nearby that were dubbed Wolverine One and Wolverine Two, Sanchez said. Two individuals near Saddam were also detained.
No one was injured and no shots were fired, he said.
About 600 4th Infantry soldiers executed the raid, called Operation Red Dawn, the name of a movie in which some of the characters are dubbed Wolverines.
Inside the Coalition Provisional Authority compound in Baghdad, coalition officials and Iraqis cheered at the initial reports of the capture, while the sound of celebratory gunfire sounded outside.
The hunt for Saddam has been the focus of U.S. troops since the invasion of Iraq in March. His sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a U.S. raid in July in Mosul.
"This is a great day in Iraq's history," Bremer said. "Now it is time to look to the future." He invited Saddam loyalists who are believed involved in a mounting wave of attacks on coalition troops and international aid agencies in recent months to lay down their arms and join in reconciliation.
"The tyrant is a prisoner," he said. He said the capture came at 8:30 p.m. local time.
Sanchez said the tip that led to Saddam involved "actionable intelligence" and "great analytical work."
