Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Saddam Hussein Captured In Tikrit
By Selwyn Manning
British Prime Minister Tony Blair as confirmed Saddam Hussein has been captured in Tikrit, Iraq. Unconfirmed news broke late Sunday night (NZ Time) after Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was quoted by the official Iranian news agency saying that the former leader had been captured in a cellar beneath a home in Tikrit.
Reports emerged from Iraq said the United States led occupation force conducted DNA tests which confirmed the captured man was Saddam Hussein.
Blair welcomed the news saying it "removes the shadow" from over Iraq. He added Saddam would likely be tried in Iraq by an Iraqi court for crimes against humanity.
Reports suggest Kurdish forces co-ordinated by U.S military initiated the capture.
Iraqis were shown celebrating the capture of their former president in the streets of Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
US authorities had earlier offered a USD$25m reward for information leading to his capture. His sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in a raid by US forces in the northern city of Mosul on 22 July.
Dee Ninis, The Conversation: Why Vanuatu Should Brace For Even More Aftershocks After This Week’s Deadly Quakes: A Seismologist Explains
Martin LeFevre - Meditations: Meditation Without A Method
Ramzy Baroud: Israel To Annex The West Bank – Why Now? And What Are The Likely Scenarios?
Binoy Kampmark: The Strawman Of Antisemitism - Banning Protests Against Israel Down Under
Gordon Campbell: On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
Keith Rankin: Judaism, Antisemitism, And Israel