Joyous Iraqis are celebrating the capture of Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi president, apparently betrayed by a family member, was discovered at the bottom of a mud hole in the cellar of a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit.

The hunt for Hussein lasted much longer than the war itself. But on Sunday, the search ended with a U.S. announcement the former Iraqi president had been captured without a struggle. "We got him," Paul Bremer told reporters. "The tyrant is a prisoner."

The U.S. military captured Hussein at 8:30 p.m. Saturday (local time) 15 kilometres south of Tikrit in the town of Adwar. Efforts to capture him had long centred in the region.

The raid, code-named "Operation Red Dawn," was carried out peacefully, the military said, and "not a shot was fired."

Hussein was found in a specially prepared "spider hole" buried about two-metres underground with an air vent to the outside.

The U.S. military showed a video of the man they captured, who had long hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. The man was then seen being examined by a doctor who opened his mouth apparently obtaining a DNA sample.

A spokesperson for the Iraqi Governing Council said initial DNA tests confirmed the man is indeed Hussein.

The video showed subsequent pictures of the man with his beard shaved.

When Iraqi journalists in the audience saw the images they jumped to their feet shouting: "Death to Saddam!" and "Down with Saddam!"

U.S. officials said Hussein is being held at an undisclosed location, adding he is being cooperative and talkative with his captors.

Some Iraqi political leaders who visited Hussein in captivity are painting a different picture, however, describing the former dictator as "unrepentant and defiant."

Adel Abdel-Mahdi, a senior official of a Shiite Muslim political party, told The Associated Press that when Saddam was asked about mass graves in Iraq, he replied: "Those are thieves."

Hussein was arrested along with two other Iraqis who had yet to be identified. Two AK-47 assault rifles, a pistol, $750,000 US in cash and an orange and white taxicab were also seized in the raid.

U.S. Lt.-Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said Hussein seemed "a tired man" after 4th Infantry Division and Special Operations forces captured him. He said Hussein appeared to be a man "resigned to his fate."

Intelligence coup

About 600 soldiers took part in the raid approximately three hours after the U.S. received a tip from an Iraqi regarding Hussein's whereabouts.

Sanchez said the operation targetted two locations. Initially they failed to find Hussein as the "spider hole" was camouflaged with bricks and dirt.

Saddam's arrest is seen as a major coup for the American intelligence community.

In a press briefing, U.S. Maj.-Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters the tip-off came from a family member "close to him (Saddam)."

Odierno, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division that captured Saddam, said his troops had questioned "five to 10 members" of families "close to Saddam" over the last 10 days.

"Finally we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals," he said.

According to defense and security expert Michael O'Hurley-Pitts, it's a dramatic turnaround after months of tips failed to materialize.

"They've had a number of tips over the past eight months looking for Saddam Hussein and all of them have come to naught," O'Hurley-Pitts told CTV News.

"Since they captured and killed Saddam Hussein's two sons, they really haven't had any success."

O'Hurley-Pitts said the fact that the troops found the hard-to-find spider hole, shows these were highly trained, highly motivated young soldiers.

"It's amazing they didn't fire a single shot in digging Saddam Hussein out.

"The fact that they didn't give themselves over to their fears and fire into the spider hole not knowing when they dug him out whether he might fire at them, shows a lot of coordination, a lot of technical expertise, and a lot of discipline."

Although pleased with the military success, the commander of the U.S. arrest operation was eager to move forward.

"Our work here still continues... only strengthens our resolve... and increases our commitment to help in the ongoing efforts to rebuild Iraq," Maj.-Gen.Odierno told reporters.

The important thing, he said, is that the "former regime is gone... it is time to move forward and build on the progress that is made."

Iraqis celebrate

In his earlier comments, Bremer was also looking ahead as he singled out Iraqis as the chief beneficiary of Saddam Hussein's arrest.

"This is a great day in Iraq history," Bremer said.

"For decades hundreds thousands of you suffered at the hands of this cruel man. For decades Saddam divided you citizens against each other, for decades he threatened and attacked your neighbors.

"Those days are over forever."

Bremer said now Iraqis can look forward to the future, "to your future of hope, to a future of reconciliation, Iraqis future. Your future has never been more full of hope."

In Baghdad, radio stations played celebratory music while out on the streets joyous Iraqis observed two celebratory traditions -- firing guns in the air and pressing candy into the hands of passersby.

Reporting from the Iraqi capital, Canadian journalist Tom Popyk said this was a scene of "honest jubilation."

"People are crying, dancing in the streets, as soon as the confirmation came," Popyk told CTV News.

Word of Saddam's capture also sent thousands streaming into the streets of the northern city of Kirkuk.

"We are celebrating like it's a wedding," said Kirkuk resident Mustapha Sheriff. "We are finally rid of that criminal."

But in Tikrit, the streets were quiet.

UN Development Officer Atif Kubursi told CTV News this is without question a happy moment for the people of Iraq.

"The Iraqi people are relieved," he said.

However, Kubursi says that Saddam's arrest will raise questions about who is actually orchestrating the ongoing Iraqi resistance against coalition forces.

"This is not the man who is in a bunker headquarters directing resistance. This is a mud hole. And it's going to raise questions as to the extent to which he's involved in this resistance."

Kubursi says only time will tell if now that Hussein has been removed everything will quiet down and stability will come to Iraq and the region.