There were celebrations on the streets of Bagdad, but the capture of Saddam Hussein does not free Tony Blair from the grips of the political crisis caused by his decision to go to war against the tyrant. Colin Tapping reports.

IN this, his darkest year as Prime Minister, Tony Blair has learned to expect the very worst in early morning phone calls. It was such a call in July which delivered the chilling news that Government scientist Dr David Kelly had been found dead in woods, plunging Mr Blair and his administration into their deepest crisis.

At 9am yesterday, his restful weekend at Chequers was interrupted by a call. He must have left the breakfast table with some trepidation.

But for the first time in a miserable few months he had cause to rejoice at events in Iraq. Saddam Hussein had been captured and was in American custody.

His elation, however, was short-lived. How he must have cringed to hear US administrator Paul Bremmer's opening words at the Baghdad press conference: "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him." In Mr Blair's war against Iraq, there is no scope for triumphalism.

In stark contrast, when it was his turn to speak to the world from the Pillar Room of 10 Downing Street, Mr Blair was sombre. His first words - "The shadow of Saddam has finally lifted from the Iraqi people" - set the tone for his reaction to the capture of the world's most notorious fugitive.

On its own, Saddam's arrest does not help Mr Blair's political cause one jot.

The Iraqi tyrant was uncovered in a hole in the ground covered by a few rocks. It is clear he has not had his finger on the pulse of terrorist and insurgent activity in his country during his months on the run.

The bomb and grenade attacks in Iraq have precious little to do with loyalty to Saddam and his region. They have everything to do with hatred of the US and British occupying forces, and the desire of itinerant extremists seizing on the easy pickings created by the chaos in Iraq to wage war on the West.

Just yesterday morning, as Saddam was having his teeth checked over by a US medic, these fanatics masterminded a suicide bomb attack which killed at least 17 people at Khaldiyah, about 50 miles west of Baghdad.

Mr Blair knows that Saddam's arrest will not bring an end to such atrocities.

Which is why he chose not to gloat at the humiliating end of the tyrant's reign. The downfall of Saddam may help President Bush's re-election hopes, it will not help Mr Blair's.

With the findings of the Hutton Inquiry just a few weeks away, the absence of weapons of mass destruction remains a burning issue for Mr Blair.

For President Bush, WMD are immaterial. For the White House, Saddam's capture alone is enough to reassure Americans that the 'end game' in Iraq is in sight. And it will temporarily silence the Democrats, buoyed by opinion poll ratings ahead of next November's Presidential Election.

Nothing will please Mr Bush more than to have a democratic government in place in Baghdad and begin bringing US troops back home as his re-election campaign begins in earnest.

The game plan for Mr Blair is that the detention of Saddam will lead to the detection of WMD. Initial reports suggest Saddam is talking freely to his captors. He may well be willing hand over information.

Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari says that Saddam is "the key to many unanswered questions" and responsible for millions of deaths, several wars and the use of chemical weapons on Iraqis on "numerous occasions".

Mr Zebari added: "People will have to queue to give evidence over what he has done.

"He is the source of all the crimes against humanity, of genocide, of war crimes.

"He has everything. Weapons of mass destruction - he's the person who knows what he has done with them."

And if Saddam is not forthcoming, then his aides, previously reticent to help Coalition Forces while their former boss was at large, may be prepared to spill the beans.

The discovery of WMD will silence the many opponents of Mr Blair's decision to go to war. But crucially, it will also take the political heat out of any fall-out from Dr Kelly's suicide.

With Lord Hutton due to publish his report next month, Mr Blair may have preferred yesterday morning's call to say that a stash of biological weapons, rather than the world's most brutal dictator, had been found in a spider hole near an Iraqi mud hut.