BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. forces captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein Saturday hiding in a crawlspace near a farmhouse south of his hometown of Tikrit.

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After eight months on the run from of the most intensive manhunts U.S. forces have ever conducted, Saddam was captured without incident in his underground hide-out. He was found with guns and cash and wearing a long, graying beard and appeared haggard. In Iraq, news of Saddam's capture spurred Iraqis and U.S. soldiers to celebrate. Around the world, leaders heralded his apprehension.

In an address to the nation (Video: Bush's Remarks) President Bush said now Saddam will face the justice he's denied to millions of people. "A dark and painful era is over. A hopeful day has arrived," Bush said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him." U.S. civilian administrator Paul Bremer confirmed the news during a Sunday press conference in Baghdad. (Video: Bremer's Comments)

"This is a great day in Iraq's history. For decades, hundreds of thousands of you suffered at the hands of this cruel man. For decades, Saddam Hussein divided citizens against each other. For decades he threatened and attacked your neighbors. Those days are over, forever. Now is the time to look to your future -- to your future of hope, to a future of reconciliation. Iraq's future, your future, has never been so full of hope. The tyrant is a prisoner. The economy is moving forward. You have before you the prospect of a sovereign government in a few months," Bremer said.

U.S. troops nabbed Saddam at about 8 p.m. Saturday Baghdad time as part of a raid on a farmhouse called Operation Red Dawn, according to Bremer. The 4th Infantry Division conducted the raid. Saddam was not in the building, but was found in a hole 8 to 10 feet from the house.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said that no injuries were reported nor were any shots fired in the operation. Saddam was cooperative and talkative, he said. Officials expect he will grow increasingly noncompliant. They said two others were captured with the former Iraqi leader, but they are termed "fairly insignificant" figures in the former Saddam regime.

In a separate press conference in Tikrit, Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said Saddam was "caught like a rat."

Sanchez said it's not yet clear how long Saddam had been hiding where he was found, or whether he had been directing the guerrilla war against U.S. forces from there.

He also wouldn't reveal how U.S. forces were tipped to Saddam's hiding place. He said only that they received "actionable intelligence," and responded in about an hour and a half.

The U.S. commander in Iraq said the military is continuing to process Saddam at this point and that these issues will be resolved in the near future.

Defense officials said Saddam admitted his identity when he was captured.

Officials said Saddam has been politely talking and cooperating since his capture. But officials have yet to begin the process of intensive intelligence de-briefings.

Those will be done during the next few days and weeks.

Sanchez said Saddam is being held in an undisclosed location and that Saddam came across as "a tired man" and a man "resigned to his fate."

After his capture, Saddam was taken to Baghdad International Airport to be viewed by other former regime detainees so that he could be positively identified. In Madrid, Spain, the president of Iraq's U.S.-backed governing council said DNA tests confirm Saddam's identity.

Other items found and confiscated in the raid include two AK-47s, a pistol and $750,000 in $100 bills inside a white and orange taxi. Citing the fact that no communication devices were found with Saddam, Odierno said he thinks it's unlikely Saddam was directing the Iraqi insurgency from his hiding place.

Saddam Videotaped, Receives Medical Examination

Video shows Saddam, with unruly hair and a gray beard, as he underwent a medical examination. Saddam is shown opening his mouth while a man wearing latex-type gloves sticks a tongue-depressor inside and uses a small flashlight to conduct an examination.

He is reportedly in good health. Sanchez said the exam found he was uninjured.

Later, after the deposed Iraqi dictator was shaved, a snap shot of him was taken and shown at the end of the tape as a before-and-after picture.

Bush Hails Capture, Warns Of More Attacks

Speaking to the nation from the White House Cabinet Room, the president said the raid "marks the end of the road" for Saddam --

as well as "all who killed and bullied in his name."

The president congratulated U.S. troops for showing "skill and precision."

But he cautioned this doesn't mean the end of attacks on U.S. forces.

He says there remain terrorists who "would rather go on killing the innocent than accept the rise of liberty."

But Bush added, "They will be defeated."

Press Secretary: Bush Happy About News

Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the president was "very happy" to learn of the raid that netted Saddam.

Bush was at Camp David when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telephoned with the first word U.S. commanders thought they had Saddam in custody. But he was back at the White House Sunday morning when aides advised him Saddam's identity had been confirmed.

Bush watched the televised formal announcement by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer in Baghdad. And McClellan said he was "particularly moved" by the cheers of Iraqis at video footage of the captured ex-ruler.

Saddam's Last Stand: Hiding In Hole

After eight months on the run, Saddam made his last stand hiding in a hole in the ground.

Sanchez said he wasn't found right away during the raid Saturday. After initially finding nothing during their raid, troops from the 4th Infantry along with special operations personnel cordoned off the area and began looking more closely.

At a small walled compound several miles south of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, soldiers found what Sanchez called a "spider hole" camouflaged with bricks and dirt. The 6-by-8 foot hole was large enough to lie down in.

Sanchez said Saddam went quietly in the end, a "tired man" presenting a "cooperative posture."

Sources Say Capture Based On Tip, Intelligence

A U.S. source says it was a process of elimination.

The source is describing the intelligence that eventually led U.S. forces to arrest Saddam Hussein near Tikrit.

Major General Ray Odierno, the commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, says the capture was based on information from a member of a family he describes as "close" to Saddam.

Another U.S. source says information from Iraqi prisoners and other intelligence tips had led to increasingly precise information -- and that allowed CIA and military analysts to gradually narrow down the list of potential sites were Saddam was believed to be hiding.

The capture happened Saturday night local time at one of the dozens of safehouses Saddam is thought to have -- a walled compound on a farm about ten miles from Tikrit.

Saddam was found in an underground hideout that Odierno describes as a "hole in the ground." He says it's ironic Saddam was found there, considering some of his opulent palaces are nearby.

Odierno said during a press conference in Tikrit Sunday that his soldiers had questioned "five to 10 members" of families close to Saddam over the past 10 days. He said "we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals."

Saddam's Fate Still To Be Determined

U.S. officials said they still haven't decided what to do with Saddam now that he's been captured.

One option is to put him before a special tribunal established in Iraq just days ago. It was designed to try top members of Saddam's regime for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One member of Iraq's Governing Council said Saddam should face a public trial, so the Iraqi people will know his crimes. Ahmad Chalabi told a Pentagon-funded TV station that "Saddam will be punished for those crimes."

A U.S. commander said during Saddam's arrest, U.S. troops discovered "descriptive written material of significant value." He declined to say whether the material related to the anti-coalition resistance.

Rumseld Praises Troops

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the capture of Saddam Hussein is momentous for the Iraqi people.

In a written statement, Rumsfeld says the Iraqi people now have been liberated in spirit as well as fact. Rumsfeld says many Iraqis now can dare to believe that the era of Saddam's brutal dictatorship is over.

The defense secretary notes the capture was the result of close coordination of intelligence and rapid military action. Rumsfeld says it reflects the hard work, courage and determination of U.S. and coalition forces.

Rumsfeld says praise also should go to all the U.S. and coalition forces who have given their lives to make the moment of capture possible.

Iraqis, U.S. Troops Celebrate Capture

U.S. troops stationed around Iraq joined in the celebration over the capture of the former dictator.

They joined in the cheering as Iraqis poured into the streets. The troops didn't intervene as some Iraqis fired guns in the air in a sign of joy.

Iraqi journalists gave U.S. officials a standing ovation as Saddam's capture was announced and they shouted wildly at the TV screen as it showed Saddam himself -- looking meek and raggedy -- being examined by his captors.

Outside, shouts of "They got Saddam -- They got Saddam" erupted as word of the ousted dictator's capture spread from car-to-car and shop-to-shop. Radio stations are playing celebratory music.

Some Iraqis said Saddam is a coward for getting caught. Others said they're glad he did not die a martyr.

Members of the Iraqi Communist Party -- persecuted under Saddam's rule -- passed out bags of candy and raised red flags outside their Baghdad headquarters.

Gunfire has erupted in the streets of Baghdad as Iraqis celebrate the news that Saddam was captured.

Shop owners closed their doors -- worried that all the shooting will [WOULD] make the streets unsafe.

Earlier in the day as rumors of the capture spread through the northern city of Kirkuk, residents in that city fired their guns in the air in celebration.

One resident said they're "celebrating like it's a wedding." He also said they're quote "finally rid of that criminal."

Another resident said speaking on behalf of all the people who suffered under Saddam's rule, that quote "this is the joy of a lifetime."

But not everyone's happy. One security guard said, "We lost our only hope and now we are stuck with the Americans."

Others were a bit skeptical.

A Baghdad resident says he heard the news, but adds, "I'll believe it when I see it."

U.S. Wakes Up To Saddam's Capture

Alan Zangana said the capture of Saddam Hussein is the news he's been waiting to hear for 35 years.

The California resident who directs Kurdish Human Rights Watch is a Kurd who fled Saddam's rule in 1981.

He said Saddam's arrest could alter the violent resistance to the U.S. presence in Iraq. He said some insurgents were acting against the coalition "because they thought Saddam was alive and would come back and cut their throats."

Other reactions were a little less personal but no less approving.

Chicago cabbie James John was jarred from his early morning doldrums by the news. He said it's a good thing, because Saddam was a bad man.

Michael Gonzales of Miami Beach said it's good but would have been better if Saddam was found dead.

And Chicagoan Pika Patel said "Just kill him. No trial."

U.S. Allies Welcome Saddam's Capture

U.S. allies in Iraq are among those welcoming Saddam's capture.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it's "very good news for the people of Iraq." Blair said it removes a shadow that's been hanging over Iraqis -- the "nightmare" that Saddam might return to power.

Blair has braved intense opposition in Britain for his strong support of President Bush and the decision to go to war. Without addressing that, he said Saddam's capture means he can be tried in Iraqi courts "for his crimes against the Iraqi people."

Blair also said it could mark the beginning of better times in Iraq, allowing the coalition to "take a step forward."

Spain -- another member of the coalition -- called it a great day for humankind.

Latvia, which has about 100 troops in Iraq, said it sends a strong message that "Saddam is not coming back."

World Leaders, Citizens React To News

World leaders, including opponents of the Iraq war, are welcoming Saddam Hussein's capture Sunday.

French President Jacques Chirac says "it's a major event" that should contribute to democracy and stability in Iraq and allow the Iraqis to "master their destiny."

Another foe of the invasion, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, sent a letter to President Bush congratulating him.

A spokeswoman for the government of Jordan says her country hopes Saddam's capture will help the Iraqi people restore law and order.

A person in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, says Saddam should be "executed in front of the Iraqi people" for being a "ruthless dictator and criminal."

One man in the Syrian capital says he can't believe it. A Jordanian says he saw the TV footage of a bearded, haggard-looking Saddam, but he said, "This captured man isn't Saddam. He'd rather blow himself up."

But as the news set in, the disbelief turned to cheers among some Arabs. Others were disappointed Saddam was captured by Americans and that he didn't fight back.

A teacher in Yemen says he expected Saddam to resist or kill himself before falling into American hands. He says Saddam "disappointed a lot of us; he's a coward."

Many Palestinians are saddened by the capture. A Gaza man says he loves Saddam so much, he can't stand to see him in custody. Saddam had sent checks to families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

Democratic Presidential Candidates Speak Out

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean says he expects the arrest to change "the course of the occupation of Iraq." Dean has been critical of President Bush's post-war policy, but he says it's a "great day" for Americans and Iraqis.

The other Democratic candidates are also praising the capture.

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman said "praise the Lord."

Congressman Dick Gephardt says he supported the effort in Iraq despite the political consequences for him because it was "the right thing to do." Sen. John Kerry says he hopes Saddam's capture will help stabilize Iraq. Former General Wesley Clark says the arrest could reduce post-war violence.

Sen. John Edwards praised U.S. forces -- and also called on U.S. allies to get more involved in rebuilding Iraq. But Carol Moseley Braun says while it's good news, Saddam's arrest "does not change the fact that our troops remain in harm's way."

And Congressman Dennis Kucinich says the U.S. must now focus on pulling troops out of Iraq.