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Iraqi Kurd leader says Saddam was arrested

IRNA

Qasr-e Shirin, Dec 14, IRNA -- The former Iraqi President Saddam 
Hussein was captured in his hometown of Tikrit on Sunday, the head of 
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Jalal Talabani, told IRNA reporter 
at the Khosravi border checkpoint, citing American forces. 
"Americans stressed that Saddam had been arrested and that the 
news of the capture would be officially announced in the next few 
hours," he said upon arrival in the Iranian soil before heading for 
France. 
US civil administer Paul Bremer said in Baghdad that Saddam had 
been captured alive by coalition forces after a manhunt of more than 
eight months. 
Bremer told a news conference that, Saddam, 66, was seized during 
a pre-dawn raid Sunday near his hometown of Tikrit, north of the 
capital. 
The head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq 
(SCIRI) office in Tehran, Majed Ghammas, confirmed that Saddam had 
been captured, citing their sources inside Iraq. 
"Our sources have reported that troops at US 4th Infantry 
Division found Saddam in a cellar in Tikrit," he told IRNA. 
"American troops identified Saddam after removing his fake graying
beard and arrested him," Ghammas added. 
Meanwhile, local sources in northern Iraq confirmed that the 
former Iraqi leader had been arrested Saturday night at a village near
Tikrit. 
"State officials have not made any comment in this regard, but 
Iraqi Kurdish groups have started rejoicing and dancing since the 
rumors about the arrest of Saddam Hussein emerged," Namik Durukan, a 
correspondent of the Turkish daily Milliyat told IRNA by phone. 
He said a flood of reporters is moving toward Tikrit and American 
troops have taken stringent security measures around the city. 
BH/212 
End