Iraqis reacted with a mixture of scepticism, suspicion and some relief on Friday to the release of pictures of the bloodied corpses of Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay, with many still in disbelief that the dreaded brothers were really killed.
The United States announced the deaths of the brothers on Tuesday after a blistering gunbattle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. But despite the release of five grisly photographs depicting the two corpses, including one image of an X-ray of eldest son Uday’s left leg which was badly injured in a 1996 assassination attempt, Iraqis on the streets of the capital Baghdad were left largely unconvinced.
”Anybody can fake something like that,” Bassum Shimmary (41) said of the photographs which were distributed on computer disc by the coalition in Baghdad on Thursday and shown on Iraqi television in the evening.
”I don’t believe it, because the Americans acted so unbelievably,” he said in reference to the heavy-handed US force in Mosul which led to the brothers’ death instead of their capture.
In Mosul, a few dozen Iraqis gathered around the shell of the house in which the two took refuge. Several said they did not believe Uday and Qusay had been inside.
”We decided the people in the house were not Uday and Qusay,” said Shabib Hassom (30).
”There is no clear evidence. We think they were just some innocent people there.”
Baghdad gas station employee Mohsen Mallah (53) said the facial swelling and extent of the injuries made it impossible to prove the pictures were those of the two brothers.
”Anyway, there are rumours they are living in the United States.”
The lack of newspapers on Friday, the traditional Muslim day of prayer, is fuelling the scepticism in this country where word of mouth plays a vital role in the spread of information.
The vast majority of Iraqis have no access to television or the internet. Dental records — which the Americans stressed were used to help confirm Uday and Qusay’s identities — are an unfamiliar concept in Iraq.
”Qusay and Uday, it’s not them,” said Najim Aboud (31) a worker in the former Saddam palace in Baghdad which now houses the coalition headquarters.
”We are not convinced. Nobody in Iraq believes it,” added one man at a Baghdad street market, where men had gathered round to discuss the fate of two of the most hated Iraqis.
Still, some were confident the photographs spoke the truth.
”We believe [the photos are real],” said Yassin Khader (58), as the swirling debate died down around him, ”but we are upset they were killed.”
”Both are 100% them,” said Hassan Fadr al-Saadi (60), hailing the confirmation as an important event for Iraq. ”We want justice.”
Several Iraqis including Khader said they were disappointed there would now be no trial for Qusay, former head of Iraq’s dreaded security apparatus, and his despised elder brother Uday.
Washington has admitted it broke US military protocol and published the photos in order to help overcome the deep suspicion in Iraq.
”The brutal careers of Uday and Qusay Hussein came to an end, sending a very clear signal to the Iraqis that the Hussein family is finished and will not be returning to terrorise them again,” Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday.
”They don’t believe it, they believe in God,” said one newspaper seller in Baghdad who did not want to be named. – Sapa-AFP