BAGHDAD, December 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been captured in a raid by U.S. forces backed by Kurdish fighters in his northern hometown of Tikrit, various sources confirmed Sunday, December 14.

The head of Iraq's U.S.-installed interim Governing Council, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, said Sunday that DNA tests had confirmed that the man captured by U.S. forces in Tikrit was Saddam.

Iran's official news agency IRNA was the first to report the news quoting, Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani.

"Saddam Hussein was arrested in his hometown of Tikrit," the Kurdish leader told IRNA.

Council member Ahmed Chalabi said Saddam was "captured without any resistance," and would be tried in public, according to Iraqi television.

"He was arrested without resistance and there was enough time for him to commit suicide if he wanted but he did not," Chalabi told Iraqi TV.

"The nightmare that was haunting the Iraqi people has been lifted. Saddam is under arrest and he will be tried publicly and punished for his crimes," added Chalabi.

A senior Pentagon official confirmed Sunday that a "high value target" was captured during a raid in the Tikrit area, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"There was a raid that occurred in the Tikrit area last night. We did pick up a number of individuals," the official said, adding that the normal procedure of checking the identity of those captured was underway.

"One of the individuals may be a very high value target," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He would not confirm whether the individual was Saddam.

However, the arrest of the ousted President was confirmed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer.

"I very much welcome the capture last night of Saddam Hussein," Blair said in a statement.

"This is very good news for the people of Iraq. It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime.

"It also gives an opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts for his crimes against the Iraqi people.

"And it gives us an opportunity to take a step forward in Iraq."

Bremer phoned the Governing Council to confirm the capture of Saddam in Tikrit, Council member Nassir Chaderchi told BBC radio's Arabic service Sunday.

"Bremer called us to confirm it (Saddam's capture) and we are all celebrating here," Chaderchi told the radio, adding that a news conference would be held soon in Baghdad to provide more details on Saddam's capture in the northern town.

Asked why the U.S. Department of Defense had yet to confirm the news, Chaderchi said it was "only a matter of time".

There was no official U.S. confirmation of the reports but they were carried extensively by U.S. media and celebratory gunfire echoed across Baghdad.

Mahmud Othman, another council member, told AFP that Saddam was captured before dawn Sunday while sleeping at a house in Tikrit.

"Before four am (0100 GMT), Qusrat Rasul Ali called me to inform me that his men along with the Americans had managed to capture Saddam Hussein as he slept in his hideout in Tikrit this morning," Othman said.

Rassul Ali, known as the lion of Kurdistan, heads a unit of special forces hunting down former regime leaders.

"I was sure the Kurds would catch Saddam Hussein because they have Arab friends in Tikrit, Mosul and the country," said Othman, a Kurd himself.

"It's a great joy for the Iraqi people because a great dictator has been arrested," he added.

U.S.-led occupation forces were to take three members of the Governing Council to identify Saddam later Sunday, a senior official from the council told AFP.

"Three members of the council, including Nassir Chaderchi and Adnan Pachachi, have been invited by coalition forces to go to Tikrit at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) to identify Saddam Hussein," the official said.

After the visit, they will talk to the press, the official added.

Kurdish officials were the first to report that Saddam had been arrested in Tikrit, eight months after he was chased from power by U.S.-led occupation forces.

Although U.S. forces had succeeded in capturing many of the most-wanted officials from Saddam's regime, and in killing his two sons, Saddam had remained at large.