Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been taken alive from his hometown, the United States military officials confirmed today. This was also confirmed by the US administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer at a press conference.

A BBC report quoted Iraqi official Ahmed Chalabi as saying that Saddam, 66, was found hiding in a cellar in his ancestral hometown of Tikrit during a pre-dawn raid.

A DNA test proved the man in custody was the former Iraqi leader.

He is the most wanted man on the list issued by US authorities but has not been seen since Baghdad fell to US forces in April.

US authorities have offered a US$25 million reward for information leading to his capture.

On July 22, his sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a raid by US forces in the northern city of Mosul.

The report also said Saddam, who was born in Tikrit, has a tight network of family and clan ties which permeated all of the regime's main military, security and political institutions while he was in power.

The US officials in October said they had intelligence indicating Saddam was hiding in Tikrit. They said he seemed to be moving around various safe houses with the aid of family members, often in disguise.

'We got him'

In another report by ABC , Bremer described the arrest as a great day in Iraq's history. He opened his press conference with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also confirmed the news, saying: "I very much welcome the capture last night of Saddam Hussein. This is a 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," Blair added.

According to the report, the news of Saddam being captured brought people into the streets to fire celebratory gunfire into the skies.