Iraq war protagonists the United States and Britain led the applause on Sunday after justice was meted out to Saddam Hussein, but other nations and groups were wary that he now faces the hangman’s noose.
The White House welcomed the guilty verdict as proof of the viability of Iraq’s fledgling government, while the US ambassador in Baghdad said the ruling marked an “important milestone” for the war-torn country.
“A former dictator feared by millions, who killed his own citizens without mercy or justice, who waged wars against neighbouring countries, has been brought to trial in his own country — held accountable in a court of law with ordinary citizens bearing witness,” ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.
“Today is an important milestone for Iraq as the country takes another major step forward in the building of a free society based on the rule of law,” said a statement from Khalilzad. “Although the Iraqis may face difficult days in the coming weeks, closing the book on Saddam and his regime is an opportunity to unite and build a better future.”
Britain said it was right Saddam had been “held to account” for his crimes after he was sentenced to death for his role in ordering the deaths of 148 Shi’ite villagers in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad.
The message from US President George Bush’s Texas retreat ahead of crucial mid-term elections was the same — the sentencing of Saddam was a good thing that underscored just how far Iraq had come.
“You now have absolute proof that you’ve got an independent judiciary in Iraq,” White House spokesperson Tony Snow told NBC television. “Part of developing Iraq to sustain itself and govern itself is to have an independent and reliable judiciary that conducts its business fairly and openly. That’s exactly what’s going on.”
But not everyone was gratified by the verdicts, which saw Saddam and two of his senior allies given death sentences after an Iraqi court found them guilty of crimes against humanity.
Amnesty International described the trial as a “shabby affair, marred by serious flaws”, while Human Rights Watch said it should have been conducted by an international court and labelled it a “lost opportunity to give a sense of the rule of law”.
United Nations human rights chief Louise Arbour called for a moratorium on executions and said the rights of the defendants to a fair appeal must be “fully respected”.
France, one of the main opponents of the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam, said it hoped already bloody sectarian strife in Iraq would not worsen as a result of the death sentence.
In Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, president of the parliamentary commission for foreign affairs, warned of “catastrophic consequences” in Iraq if Saddam is hanged, but expressed scepticism that the death penalty would be carried out.
In few places is Saddam more despised than in neighbouring Iran, and in the capital, Tehran, there was a sense of relief and jubilation that an arch-foe had finally had his come-uppance.
The only lingering concern for Iranians was that death by hanging was somehow not enough and his demise could impede justice for his “crimes” against Iran, which is still reeling from the scars of the 1980-1988 war against Iraq.
Likewise, Kuwaitis erupted with cheers and applause, although some said they would prefer him to rot in jail for the rest of his life.
“Thank God we lived to see this day,” said Ahmad al-Misfer, a 70-year-old whose son, a Kuwaiti army officer, has not been heard of since he was arrested in 1990 during the seven-month Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.
The ruling Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on the other hand, condemned the death sentence, recalling the financial help the deposed Iraqi leader gave to the Palestinian people after the intifada broke out in September 2000.
Despite broad satisfaction that Saddam had been made to face justice before the Iraqi people, there was notable opposition to the death penalty, especially from European countries such as Spain, Sweden and Italy.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, currently visiting Paris, said the trial of his predecessor was “fair” but refused to comment on the death sentence pending the appeal period, which runs for a month. — AFP