Iraqi expatriates living in Utah will sleep a little easier knowing the man who has haunted their lives for decades is now under American lock and key.

"It is a big relief," said Taha Babani, an Iraqi interpreter for the U.S. Army who lives in Murray. "You have to get Saddam Hussein to free Iraq."

Iraqis living across the state and nation hailed the capture of Saddam Hussein when they woke up to the news Sunday morning. And in Utah, the phones were ringing off the hook.

"All my friends kept calling and telling me what was happening," said Susan Billings, a former Iraqi who now lives in West Jordan. "I was nervous. All my TVs didn't work, but eventually I hooked up the antenna and I saw his face. . . . It is a really great day."

Ahmed Salim, a West Jordan landscaper who grew up south of Baghdad, awoke to a ringing telephone. It was his friend from Michigan who told him to turn on the television.

"I turned on the TV and I couldn't believe it," Salim said. "I'm so excited."

Hussein, who had eluded United States troops for so long, was discovered Saturday night hiding in a hole below a walled compound on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit.

For many Iraqis, the story of his capture was a shameful sight.

"It was so embarrassing," Billings said. "He should have shot himself."

"I know that he's a coward man," Salim added. "That's why he was hiding underground."

For Babani it was a little bittersweet. He just returned from Iraq six months ago. And he would have done anything to be there for the historic day of Hussein's capture.

"I wish I was there," he said. "It is a great thing. I'm glad it happened."

Finding Hussein solved one of the great mysteries that tormented nearly everyone who feared he was still alive. Now Babani said his friends and family in Iraq are feeling a tremendous sense of relief.

"When I went back to Iraq recently, people were really cautious. They were afraid. I talked to people who asked, 'Do you think Saddam Hussein will come back? 'Do you think he's dead?' They were afraid to speak about him."

President Bush declared to the Iraqi people that "you will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again." But he also was cautious that it did not mean the end of violence in Iraq.

Still, Iraqis are optimistic.

"As we continue to oppose the war in Iraq, we hope the capture of Saddam Hussein creates a window of opportunity for peace and reconciliation," said The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, in a prepared statement. "He must be brought before an international tribunal and then punished for the death and devastation his tyrannical rule imposed on that long-suffering nation and its neighbors."

Billings is hopeful.

"Hopefully, things will cool down," she said. "We need to move on."

Many are celebrating the world over.

"A lot of people all over the world will celebrate," Salim said. "I just called my friend and he said people plan to march the streets carrying American flags."

---

E-MAIL: donna@desnews.com