[5] Between July and December 2003, JSOC's Task Force 121 carried out twelve unsuccessful raids to find Saddam, together with 600 other operations against targets, including 300 interrogations.

Then, as the operators were finishing and the helicopters called in to extract them, one soldier kicked a piece of flooring to one side, exposing a spider hole; he prepared to throw a grenade into it – in case it led to an insurgent tunnel system – when suddenly Saddam appeared.

Abtahi joined the call for justice, adding, "Iranians have suffered much, because of him, and [the] mass graves in Iraq prove the crimes he has committed against the Iraqi people".

"The capture of Saddam will not save the U.S. from the world's condemnation for supporting the greater enemy, Israeli P.M. Ariel Sharon", said Selim Al-Hoss, ex-Lebanese Prime Minister.

Palestine: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's government had no comment; however Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, a senior Hamas leader, said the U.S. would "pay a very high price for the mistake" of capturing Saddam.

Afghanistan: The Afghan government welcomed news of the capture of Saddam, deeming it a warning to opposition leaders such as Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

[12] Hong Kong: Sing Tao Daily editorialized: "The desperate capture of Iraqi former president Saddam symbolizes the bad fate of a corrupt dictator and also the best Christmas present this year for US President George Bush, but for the Iraqis who have undergone a baptism of fire in the war, the days of peace are still far away, and the road of reconstruction is as long and arduous as before."

South China Morning Post editorialized: "With Hussein's capture, Iraqis can at last begin to close this brutal and tragic chapter in their history."

Powell told Sinha that the capture would bring "a change in the existing situation and lead to greater respect for the Iraqi Governing Council."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the arrest of the former Iraqi president had not changed how Indonesia felt about the situation in Iraq.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda agreed the arrest was "great news," but cautioned it would not necessarily lead to peace.

Malaysia: The Malaysian government said the Iraqi people should decide how Saddam would be brought to justice on accusations of gross human rights violations.

Iraqis should "be given the right to decide on the manner and procedure of bringing Saddam Hussein to face justice," said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, head of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar expressed hope that the capture of Saddam Hussein would contribute towards bringing peace and stability in Iraq and the surrounding region and stated that the United Nations should now play a bigger role in achieving this objective.

Republic of China (Taiwan): An hour after U.S. announced the capture, President Chen Shui Bian congratulated the U.S. for what he called "a big victory".

Belgium: The Flemish-language newspaper De Standaard editorialized that "Showing degrading pictures of a prisoner, even if he was a cruel tyrant, does not increase the moral authority of those who overpowered him."

Vatican City: Top Curia official Renato Martino, a cardinal deacon and President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, attacked the way Saddam was treated by his captors, saying he had been dealt with like an animal.

Russia: Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said, "We think the arrest of Saddam Hussein will contribute to the strengthening of security in Iraq and to the process of political regulation in the country with the active participation of the United Nations."

United Kingdom: Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George W. Bush's strongest ally in the Iraq War, called the capture good news for Iraqis, saying: "It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime."

Kenya: The newspaper People Daily wrote, "The capture of deposed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein is, no doubt, a major victory for the United States and the coalition of the willing, chief among which is Britain.

There was controversy over TV pictures which showed Saddam undergoing a medical examination after his capture—footage regarded by some as a failure to protect him from public curiosity.

A leading Vatican clergyman described the scenes as Saddam being "treated like a cow," and some sections of the Arab world were deeply offended by them.

The graphic depicts Hussein as a small red figure lying on its back in a spider hole, also highlighting other features of the hiding place including an air vent, fan, and entrance hidden by rubble.

[23][24] The simple shape of the design later became subject to pareidolia online, with examples of the graphic's likeness in foods and other products being reposted as memes on social media,[25][26] particularly on TikTok.