Neighbours say region now freed from a nightmare

Kuwaiti reaction: Kuwaitis were yesterday elated at Saddam's capture, saying the volatile region had been freed from a nightmare…

Kuwaiti reaction: Kuwaitis were yesterday elated at Saddam's capture, saying the volatile region had been freed from a nightmare.

"This is the most beautiful news I have heard," said Hussein al -Haddad. "Iraq will now be stabilised and everything in Kuwait will be more positive."

The Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, welcomed Saddam's capture as godly justice, saying his country had now been vindicated. "All I say is thanks be to God who gave Kuwaitis justice to see their enemy that hurt them in this state," he said on state television.

Kuwaiti motorists honked their horns and waved to each other, revelling in the moment.

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"The whole region will be free of the nightmare," said Hussein Ahmad. "I am so happy, I can't even describe it. I had family killed in Iraq so I hope they have actually caught him, and put the whole region at ease."

The Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah, said Saddam's downfall was a good omen.

"The Iraqi people are now rid of history's biggest tyrant and no doubt his downfall will have positive effects on Iraq and its stability and on security and stability in the region," the minister said.

Scores of people hit the main seaside Gulf Road to celebrate. Saddam's army invaded Kuwait in 1991 and occupied the country for seven months until it was driven out by a US-led coalition. However major street celebrations, like those after Kuwait's liberation, were not witnessed yesterday.

State-run television interrupted its programmes with news of the capture. An Islamist parliamentarian demanded that Saddam be put on trial and interrogated on the fate of hundreds of Kuwaiti prisoners who went missing during the invasion. - (Reuters)