World Leaders Hail Saddam News

World leaders expressed delight and relief Sunday at the capture of Saddam Hussein, with supporters and opponents of the Iraq war agreeing that the arrest could mark a milestone in the country's journey toward peace.

The U.S. military announced that Saddam was apprehended without a struggle in a hole in a farmhouse cellar near his hometown of Tikrit, ending one of the most intense manhunts in history.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush's staunchest ally on Iraq, said the capture would convince Iraqis that "Saddam is gone from power. He won't be coming back, that the Iraqi people now know and it is they who will decide his fate."

Even those countries that were against the invasion of Iraq have welcomed Saddam's capture, reports CBS News Correspondent Elaine Cobbe.

French President Jacques Chirac, a leading critic of the war, said he was delighted by the news.

"It's a major event that should strongly contribute to democracy and stability in Iraq and allow the Iraqis to master their destiny," Chirac said in a statement.

Germany's chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose ties to America suffered strain because of his opposition to the war, greeted the news "with much happiness."

"I hope that his arrest will support the efforts of the international community to rebuild and stabilize Iraq," Schroeder said in a letter released by the German government.

The reactions of the French and German leaders may make things easier for former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who's headed to Europe for talks with those countries on writing off some or all of the massive debts they're owed by Iraq.

U.S. lawmakers said Baker should cash in on the goodwill from Paris, Berlin and elsewhere to draw more international financial aid for reconstruction.

Baker leaves Monday and after France will go to Russia, Britain, Italy and Germany.

Other supporters of the U.S.-led war were quick to hail the news. "The time has come for (Saddam) to pay for his crimes," said Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. "He is responsible for the killing of millions of people over the last 30 years."

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has sent 2,300 soldiers to Iraq, congratulated Bush during a phone call from the president to the Italian leader on Sunday, Berlusconi's spokesman said.

In Poland, which commands thousands of international peacekeeping troops in Iraq., Defense Minister Jersey Szmajdzinski also welcomed the news, but warned that the arrest could spark retaliation from Saddam's supporters.

"The coming days could be equally dangerous as these past days," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a strong U.S. ally, said he had called Bush to congratulate him on the capture.

"Today is a great day for the democratic world and for the fight for freedom and justice and for the fight against terror," Sharon said.

Reaction was more mixed in the Arab world, where many expressed joy that Saddam would never return to rule Iraq, while others were disappointed that he was captured by Americans or that he did not fight back rather than surrender.

"Saddam is a dictator and the Iraqi people suffered under him, but on the other hand, it was the (American) occupation that caught him," Mohammed Horani, a legislator with the Palestinian Parliament, said in the Gaza Strip. "There will be a sense of confusion in the public."

The government of Jordan said Sunday it hoped that Saddam's capture would contribute to the dawning of a new era and help the Iraqi people restore law and order in their in their war-ravaged country.

"What the Jordanian government cares about is the safety and security of the Iraqi people and the restoration of political stability in that brotherly Arab nation," Asma Khader, a state minister and the government spokeswoman, told The Associated Press.

The European Union hailed news of Saddam's arrest, while United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq said the capture "offers the opportunity to give fresh impetus to the search for peace and stability in Iraq on the basis of an inclusive and fully transparent process."

Japan, Australia and other countries also were quick to applaud the news of Saddam's capture, as a video showing a bearded Saddam being examined by a doctor was broadcast on news channels.

News of Saddam's capture reverberated among the 500 delegates and other dignitaries at the opening session of Afghanistan's historic constitutional council, being held in Kabul.

Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said the arrest would help improve security in Afghanistan by dampening the ability of militant groups to recruit fighters here.

"What happens in Iraq is also something to do with the situation in Afghanistan. Since the war in Iraq, the terrorist organizations have tried to open a new front in Afghanistan, so any failure of terrorism in Iraq is going to effect the situation in Afghanistan," Jalali told The Associated Press.