Lebanese anger against US after Saddam's execution

By Weedah Hamzah Dec 30, 2006, 17:32 GMT

Beirut - Few in Beirut shed tears Saturday when they heard of Saddam Hussein's hanging, instead there were strong feelings of anger against the US.

'The Americans have no heart...they killed Saddam on a Muslim holiday,' said 65-year-old Palestinian, Abu Hussein, who lived in Iraq during Saddam's regime.

'On the day of Eid al-Adha ... all customs say this is the day of forgiveness,' he added.

'To execute him on this special day is below any humane standards,' Abu Hussein said.

Abu Hussein admitted Saddam was a dictator and an oppressor. But 'one should not forget that he also worked to preserve unity inside his country, not like today under the American rule,' he said.

'Whether someone liked Saddam or not, he was an Arab leader who stood strong in the face of Israel, our enemy,' said Abu Hussein, who now lives in the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Barajneh in the outskirts of Beirut.

Muslims Saturday celebrated Eid al-Adha, the feast of Abraham, who, according to the Koran, was about to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as requested by God, when God sent him a sheep to slaughter instead.

Comments regarding Saddam's hanging in the mainly Shiite southern suburbs, controlled by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, reflected different views.

'I always wished for him this fate or may be worse, he deserved to die,' Ali Barda said.

'He used to slaughter people like animals. I think he had an easy death. I would have wished they had used some of his torture tactics which he used on his own people,' Barda said.

'He has killed many Shiites in Iraq and made a lot of women widows and left thousands of orphan children,' he added.

'It is a feast day for me and every Shiite who has suffered from Saddam's oppression,' Hassan al-Husseini said.

Despite his expressions of approval at Saddam's hanging, Husseini wished Saddem had been tried by the people and not a court serving 'as a puppet for Iraq's occupiers.'

Iraqi Shiites were persecuted during Saddam's 24-year rule.

In the Dujail trial, which began in October 2004 and delivered its verdict on November 5 this year, Saddam and six co-defendants were found guilty of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in the village of Dujail in 1982.

The killings in the northern Iraqi village were in retaliation for an attempt against Saddam's life during a visit to the area earlier that year.

Even though Saddam was tried by an Iraqi court, the US had been the dominant judge and executioner, said Saadeddine Kassir, who lost his best Iraqi friend in the 1982 Dujail massacre.

'Saddam was tried by a Iraqi court but the real judge was President George W Bush,' he said.

'My friend whose name I will keep undisclosed for the saftey of his remaining family, was executed along with three of his nephews,' Kassir said.

'I feel today that my dead friend has got his revenge from Saddam Hussein,' he added.

But Kassir stressed that despite getting revenge for his friend, he felt ashamed that Saddam Hussein had been executed under an 'occupying power.'

Celebrations in response to Saddam's hanging also swept downtown Beirut where thousands of Lebanese pro-Syrian protestors have been staging an open-ended sit-in since December 1.

The protests are aimed at toppling what they describe as the 'US- backed' government of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora.

'Saddam should have been executed three years ago when he was captured by US troops in December 2003 after the US-led invasion,' said a Hezbollah protestor.

'This is the fate of everybody who forgets about the demands of the people and rule the country solely,' said Mohammed Mokdad, a follower of the pro-Syrian, Shiite movement Amal.