![]() ![]() Sanchez also showed a still photograph, apparently taken later, of a shaven Saddam. Amid scenes of undisguised jubilation at US headquarters in Baghdad, Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez played the video of the 66-year-old ousted leader undergoing a medical examination which appeared to include the taking of saliva swabs for DNA testing. Iraqi and American officials said the DNA tests had confirmed his identity. Soldiers photographed him, shaved the beard and photographed him again before running DNA tests. Saddam had a salt-and-pepper beard when he was captured. He dug a hole and buried himself as US soldiers moved into the house where he was hiding, an Iraqi official said early today and the American soldiers dug him out with shovels. He was found hiding in a cellar in his home town. Saddam had eluded US troops since he was driven from power in April. Iraqis at the press conference broke into further cheers at the sight of the despot undergoing a beard and mouth search at the hands of his captors. The press conference was shown a short video of a bearded Saddam shortly after he had been pulled from his hole in the ground. He appealed to "members of the former regime to now end their bitter opposition" to the US occupation. "This is a great day for Iraq," Bremer said. Bremer said Saddam had been found at 8.30pm Saturday Iraqi time (6.30am Sunday NZ time) in a town 15km south of Tikrit. UnconfIrmed reports of the deposed tyrant's capture had emerged more than an hour earlier. On the streets of Baghdad, crowds were already celebrating. The United States Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, greeted a press conference with the words: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we got him." Cheering erupted from Iraqis in the news conference. Iraq and its people taught me that there are good human beings all over the world that are often subject to tyranny with little hope of escape.BAGHDAD - Triumphant coalition leaders in Iraq early this morning announced the capture of Saddam Hussein. We understood this at the lowest level and that is why Saddam was captured. If it is worth doing it is worth finishing. What did the hunt for Saddam teach you? And the country?ĭon’t quit. It was a six-month manhunt involving many players, with both special operations and regular forces working hand in hand with one another. What don’t people understand about the hunt for Saddam? We felt if he were ever captured, he would have to know where Saddam was. Saddam hussein capture we got him series#Tell us about the key tip that led to Saddam’s capture.Īfter closing the ring for five months, we had three series of raids that led us to Saddam’s key man named Mohammed al-Musslit. I commanded an Infantry task force of a thousand soldiers in Tikrit and was involved heavily from June until his capture in December. What role did you play in Saddam’s capture? I also learned a lot about the enemies that we fought. When we lived it, we were so engaged in it that it did not seem as impossible as it now looks today. I felt a moral obligation to the soldiers we served with and especially those we lost. Battleland chatted with Russell about his book in an email exchange: The new Iraqi government executed Saddam by hanging Dec. Russell, who served 21 years in the Army, was directly involved in Saddam’s capture in the infamous “spider hole” near Tikrit, eight years ago Tuesday. Follow kind of funny that the same month we’re pulling out of Iraq, retired Army lieutenant colonel Steve Russell is releasing We Got Him! A memoir of the hunt and capture of Saddam Hussein. ![]()
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