British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday welcomed the capture of former Iraq president Saddam Hussein.

"It removes the shadow that has been hanging over them for too long of the nightmare of a return to the Saddam regime," a statement from his office said.

"This fear is now removed. It also gives an opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts for his crimes against the Iraqi people. We should try now to unite the whole of Iraq in rebuilding the country and offering it a new future.

"I pay tribute to the work of the coalition intelligence and military forces in capturing him," the statement said.

Blair, who flew back to the UK from a summit in Brussels on Saturday, was US President George W Bush's closest ally in the war in Iraq.