As news of Saddam Hussein's capture spread across the country, celebratory shooting erupted in Baghdad's streets, soldiers cheered and victims of his tyranny thanked the United States. Many said it marked a new beginning for Iraq.
 | Associated Press graphic Shrewd, brutal dictatorRequires Adobe Acrobat. |
But for some, his capture was a blow to hopes for Saddam's triumphant return, and his peaceful surrender was seen as a stain on Arab honor.
"He swore before the war that Iraqis would fight America, and then he didn't fire a single shot," said Kassem Shelshul, a 28-year-old chauffeur living in Baghdad. "We expected him to commit suicide or resist," he said after watching video of the captured dictator.
It was a publicly humiliating end to a leader who for 30 years presented himself to his people only in the most monumental terms. Video released by the U.S. military showed the bearded, wild-haired leader in custody, submitting to a doctor probing his mouth with rubber-gloved hands. Though U.S. officials said Saddam had a pistol with him when he was caught, he didn't use it.
Iraqis were shocked that the man they feared for three decades was found hiding in a hole and gave up without a fight.
"For the last 35 years Saddam Hussein presented himself as a lion against the Americans and the West, and now today they found him like a mouse," said Laad Hamadi, an Iraqi civil engineer. "He didn't fight for his country, he didn't even fight for himself."
Some called Saddam a coward for getting caught. Others were glad he didn't die a martyr.
"He killed my son, Mohammed, and he tortured his people," 40-year-old Halem al-Jassen said as she celebrated in the street. "Thank God for the United States."
In the Kurdish city of Kirkuk in the north, eight people were killed and 80 wounded from gunfire during celebrations of Saddam's capture.
But for Saddam's supporters, the day was one of loss.
Safa al-Douri, a 36-year-old grocery store owner in Adwar, the town where Saddam was captured late Saturday, said it was too painful to watch the video.
"I could not stand looking at him. When I heard the news of his arrest it was as though somebody told me my father had died," he said. "But when I saw his face, it was even worse."
Iraqis said the site of Saddam's capture in Adwar belonged to Qais Namik, a farmer who some said had been arrested at the start of the raid that led to the deposed leader's capture.
He grows date palms, orange trees and keeps sheep, the neighbors said. One said he had performed some unspecified type of work with Saddam's regime before it fell in April. "Obviously they could hide him pretty good for eight months," Army Capt. Joe Munger said.
The walls along part of road are laced with pro-Saddam graffiti that has been crossed out, as U.S. troops do when they find such signs of support. When a translator asked a local for directions to the place where "Saddam" was caught, he answered sternly, "We call him Mr. President."