/ 29 December 2007

A year on, Saddam hanging seen as false start for Iraq

Bringing Saddam Hussein to book for the crimes of his regime was supposed to symbolise the restoration of the rule of law after decades of tyranny in Iraq, but instead his hanging a year ago on Sunday drew accusations of victors’ justice.

Footage captured on a cellphone of his executioners taunting him before putting him to death sparked criticism, even from the United States sponsors of Iraq’s new Shi’ite-led government.

For the Sunni Arab minority that provided the bedrock of Saddam’s support, the hangmen’s chants of the name of a Shi’ite leader whose militia has become a symbol of fear since the 2003 invasion made the execution seem like an act of sectarian retribution.

“It was certainly naive to believe that a court set up under American occupation could lay the foundation stone of the sort of new justice system and democratic regime that Iraq had never previously known,” said Baghdad university professor Nabil Mohammed Yunis.

In a country whose political history has been punctuated by coups, assassinations and wars ever since independence in 1932, “things take time to change”, said Yunis.

However, “Iraq’s new leaders were desperate to be rid of Saddam, who remained a threat to their newfound power as long as he remained alive”.

An Iraqi teacher, who would give only his first name as Omar, said that the hanging of Saddam had been widely regarded by Iraqis as sectarian revenge.

“This humiliating execution was not viewed as the just punishment of a dictator but as an act of revenge by the Shi’ite government against the Sunnis who dominated the former Ba’ath party,” he said.

The hanging at the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha had further deepened the rift between Sunnis and Shi’ites, opened up by the bombing of a revered Shi’ite shrine by suspected al-Qaeda militants in February last year, he added.

Under the Muslim calendar, the anniversary of the execution has already passed more than a week ago. Saddam was hanged just minutes before the start of Eid al-Adha, which Sunni Muslims this year celebrated on December 19.

To mark the day, dozens of Sunni supporters gathered at Saddam’s graveside in his home village of Awja, near the central city of Tikrit, to lay flowers and pay their respects.

Even US President George Bush, who hailed Saddam’s capture in late 2003, sharply criticised the manner of his execution.

In an interview with PBS television on January 16 he said the hanging resembled a sectarian “revenge killing” and had made it harder to end the deadly violence plaguing Iraq.

Bush said the execution had “reinforced doubts” about Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and made it clear that his fledgling government “has still got some maturation to do”.

The US president said he had been “pleased” with the trials of Saddam and two top aides, who were also executed, but that the Iraqi government “fumbled” in carrying out the death sentence against the toppled strongman.

“When it came to execute him, it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing. And it sent a mixed signal to the American people and the people around the world,” Bush told the network.

Only among members of Iraq’s newly empowered Shi’ite majority are supporters of the execution to be found.

Shi’ite politician and lawyer Tareq al-Mamuri told Agence France-Presse that the deposed president had at least enjoyed the sort of fair trial that he denied his opponents during his rule.

“Saddam had the right to defend himself through a team of lawyers but they handled it badly and treated the trial and its outcome as a political matter,” he said.

“It is normal that Saddam was executed for his crimes. And it’s also normal that those who profited from his regime are unhappy about it.” — AFP