When awakened by a friend's telephone call Sunday, the last thing Ned Seder said he wanted to do was to get out of bed and face the five inches of snow laying on the ground.

"I just wanted to stay in bed," Seder said. "My friend said, 'I have news that will open your eyes.' Then he told me that Saddam Hussein had been captured and it was like a jolt of electricity had shot through my body."

Seder, who lives in Hermitage, is a naturalized American citizen of 14 years. Originally from Jordan, he said the area's Arab community was shocked, gladdened and relieved by the news.

He noted the ousted dictator's appearance and reaction to his capture.

"This guy, he led for 30 years," Seder said. "And when they showed him on television, he looked homeless, worse than homeless. The homeless live off of the earth; he was living under it."

"He looked like a coward," Seder said. "There is no pride in him. When millionaires lose all their money, they still have their image. He didn't have that." Many, he said, expected him to commit suicide.

He and many of his friends, he said, have been calling each other all day. They've also been getting calls from friends and family in the Middle East who wanted to share the good news.

"They're very glad," Seder said of his friends and family overseas. "Perhaps now, the violence will stop. Iraq and the region have always been bloody. Even a thousand years ago. They weren't shocked he was captured, but were happy because now this might end the bloodshed."

Seder said he hopes the insurgency in Iraq will stop.

"Whoever was fighting for him, they will stop," he said. "They fought because they thought he would come back, and reward them. But they see now that he's gone, his sons are gone, his Baath party is gone."

The capture of Saddam, he said, could be dawning of a new era for the Middle East.

"Perhaps now democracy will spread around the region," he said. "They did not just capture a man. Today was the birth of a new chance. Those that governed us or ruled us see they are vulnerable, and if they do not treat their people properly, with respect, they will have to pay the price sooner or later."

Area politicians also said they saw the capture of Hussein as a chance for a new era.

U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., called the capture an important day for Iraq and its people.

"This ruthless dictator went to extreme lengths not to get caught," he said, "and I commend the men an women of our armed forces for capturing Saddam Hussein without any loss of life."

While there is much work still to be done in Iraq, he said, "There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein will never again be a threat to his own people or to the world."

U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, Bradford Woods, R-4th District, said Hussein's capture made Sunday "a great day for the American and Iraqi peoples."

"The capture of Hussein represents a triumph of good over evil and of freedom and democracy over tyranny," said Ms. Hart, who represents Farrell, West Middlesex, Shenango Township and a sliver of Hermitage.

Vincent P. Darcangelo, veterans' liaison for Mercer County Career Link, said he was glad to hear the news.

"It has to be a big morale boost for the troops," he said. "They've been looking for him for a long time."

He also said he thought the capture could lead to a decrease in violence in Iraq.

"I hope this will bring the Iraqi resistance to an end," he said. "In my mind, he has for a long time been coordinating the terrorist attacks and resistance. Now they have captured him, these attacks may diminish or stop."

Greenville Mayor Clifford Harriger said he wished the deposed dictator wasn't going to go to trial.

"If you want my opinion, shoot him. He didn't give his own people opportunity for a trial, why should he get one?"

Hussein, according to reports he'd read, massacred thousands of his own people and allowed his own family to be killed.

"If he goes to trial, he'll get off with a life sentence, and he doesn't deserve that," Harriger said.

"It's the close of another chapter in the fight against oppression in the world," said Tom Shaffer, who is on Grove City Borough Council. "We have to eliminate tyranny and this is a major step ahead."

Shaffer has a nephew who is serving in the U.S. Air Force. Stationed in Okinawa, he's scheduled to be sent wherever the country needs him later in the winter.

"It's never easy for the troops," Shaffer said. "But hopefully the people in Iraq will realize their threat is gone. They are free to be human beings, not to be tortured or oppressed."

Bob Lark, chairman of Mercer County Democratic Committee, said he thought the capture was a good sign.

"It's a very good thing," he said. "He was a very brutal dictator, and as long as he was around, there was a chance he could come back in power."

Hopefully now, Lark said, "the resistance will end and it will be an easier time for our troops. Soon things will be put together and they can come home where they belong."

Rev. Donald F. Wilson, chairman of the county Republican party, said he was relieved when he saw the images of Hussein on television.

"There's a big sigh of relief. I would hope this would be the beginning of the winding down," he said.

Rev. Wilson said he was relieved the former dictator surrendered without a fire fight.

"I keep urging people to pray for those who are there, our people, and the people of Iraq," he said. "They are still in harm's way. And I hope the Iraqi people realize this mission gave them freedoms they haven't had for years."