On this day: Saddam Hussein is captured

Sharon told his American counterpart: “Today was a great day for the democratic world, for those fighting for freedom and justice, and for those who object to terror.

“The entire world can breath a sigh of relief, because the dictator who ruined Iraq cannot interfere with its reconstruction and rehabilitation," Mr Sharon said.

“All dictatorships, especially those contaminated with terror, have learned an important lesson today.

Meanwhile a Palestinian spokesman for Yasir Arafat's Fatah party said: "Saddam is a dictator and the Iraqi people suffered under him, but on the other hand, it was the (American) occupation that caught him.

"There will be a sense of confusion in the public."

Historically, Iraq had a thriving and large Jewish population. But under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Jews were persecuted and by the time of Saddam’s capture there were fewer than 20 Jews left in the country.

During the Second Intifada he sent $35 million to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and paid the families of suicide bomber $20,000 for killing Israelis.

What history professor Bernard Wasserstein said in the JC: The removal from the scene of Saddam Hussein promises to revolutionise the political landscape of the Middle East and revive the prospects of a lasting settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Six Arab countries sent forces to try to strangle the fledgling “Zionist entity” at its birth in 1948: Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Of these, Iraq is the only one which has not only never made peace with Israel, but has also yet to sign any diplomatic accord, or make any serious proposal for some form of accommodation, with Israel.

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