The United States confirmed on Sunday that the ousted former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was captured by the US troops in a raid near his hometown of Tikrit Saturday morning.  

Here is a brief chronology of events in Iraq since the war to topple Saddam started:

March 20 -- US launches war against Iraq with selective strikes on Baghdad targeting "very senior" leadership;

April 9 -- US forces storm into Baghdad, ending Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule;

May 1 -- US President George W. Bush declares an end to the major military campaign in Iraq;

May 6 -- Bush names Paul Bremer as the US civil administrator in Iraq;

July 13 -- A 25-member US-backed Iraqi Governing Council holds its inaugural meeting in Baghdad;

July 22 -- US military confirms the killing of Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay, in Mosul;

Aug. 19 -- A massive truck bomb devastates the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top UN envoy to Iraq;

Sept. 1 -- The Interim Governing Council appoints 25 ministers to run the day-to-day work of ministries;

Oct. 15 -- Iraq adopts a new currency, banishing the face of Saddam;

Oct. 16 -- The US-drafted Security Council resolution 1511 on Iraq's future is adopted unanimously despite misgivings;

Oct. 24 -- International donors pledge at least 33 billion US dollars in aid and loans over the next four years at a conference in Madrid to raise funds for Iraq's reconstruction;

Dec. 9 -- The United States rules that prime contracts to rebuild Iraq will exclude firms from nations such as France Germany that opposed the war;

Dec. 14 -- US officials announce capture of Saddam.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2003)