<html>
<body>
<font size=3>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94EB11FD-B4FD-415A-A6D2-6C63F0E29545.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94EB11FD-B4FD-415A-A6D2-6C63F0E29545.htm<br>
<br>
</a>MONDAY, JANUARY 01, 2007<br>
7:30 MECCA TIME, 4:30 GMT<br>
Saddam video shows Iraq divisions<br><br>
A video, caught on a mobile phone, of the killing of Saddam Hussein, the
former Iraqi president, has shown the sectarian rift in Iraq.<br><br>
In the clip, witnesses to the execution can be heard taunting Saddam
before the gallows floor drops away and he is hanged.<br><br>
The video, first broadcast by Al Jazeera on Sunday, recorded someone
praising Muhammad Bakr al-Sadr, the founder of the Shia Dawa party and an
uncle of Muqtada al-Sadr.<br><br>
Al-Sadr was executed in 1980 by Saddam.<br><br>
Hoda Abd al-Hamid, Al Jazeera's Iraq correspondent, said from Baghdad:
"There is a mixed reaction here in Iraq.<br><br>
"We have heard from the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni
association, that issued a statement condemning the execution, saying
it's an execution carried out by the [Nuri] al-Maliki government for the
Americans.<br>
<br>
"We also heard from a group of Baathists. They've posted a statement
on the internet pledging their support again to Saddam Hussein and
nominating his vice-president, Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, who is still on the
run since the fall in 2003, as the new president of Iraq.<br>
<br>
"This video is likely to widen the gap.<br><br>
"Sunnis are going to say this is proof that the security services
have been infiltrated by Shia militias, namely the al-Mahdi Army which is
loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sunnis have been saying that all
along.<br><br>
"The Shia will say he was not much ill-treated and that Saddam
inflicted far worse.<br>
<br>
"But there is a clear message coming out of that video - that the
al-Mahdi Army is there and in charge of anything that's happening in Iraq
now."<br><br>
<b>Caught on camera<br><br>
</b>On the video, a guard is also heard saying: "God damn
you."</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
</font>"God damn you," replies Saddam.<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br>
</font>Saddam appeared to smile at those taunting him from below the
gallows. He said they were not showing manhood.<br>
<br>
Then Saddam began reciting the <i>Shahada</i>, a Muslim prayer that says
there is no God but God and Muhammad is his messenger, according to an
unabridged copy of the video clip, which was posted on a
website.<br><br>
Saddam made it to midway through his second recitation of the verse. His
last word was Muhammad. Then the floor dropped out of the
gallows.<br><br>
<b>'Act of revenge'<br><br>
</b>Najib al-Nuaimi, a member of the defence team, told Al Jazeera on
Sunday that no Sunni lawyer was allowed to be among the execution
witnesses and that the conduct of those present showed it was an act of
revenge and for political purposes.<br><br>
"This is not in the normal procedures to execute a normal
person," he said. <br><br>
"It's full of hatred and it's very ugly. It's nothing to do with the
Dujail case."<br><br>
By several accounts, Saddam was calm but scornful of his captors,
engaging in a give-and-take with the crowd gathered to watch him die and
insisting he was>Iraq's saviour, not its tyrant and scourge.<br><br>
Munir Haddad, an appeals court judge who witnessed the hanging, told the
BBC: "He said we are going to heaven and our enemies will rot in
hell and he also called for forgiveness and love among Iraqis but also
stressed that the Iraqis should fight the Americans and the
Persians."<br><br>
<b>Witness account<br><br>
</b>Another witness, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security
adviser, told <i>The New York Times</i> that one of the guards shouted at
Saddam: "You have destroyed us. You have killed us. You have made us
live in destitution." <br><br>
Al-Rubaie told the newspaper that Saddam responded: "I have saved
you from destitution and misery and destroyed your enemies, the Persians
and Americans."<br>
<br>
Saddam has been buried in Awja village, close to Tikrit.<br><br>
Ali al-Nida, head of the Albu Nasir tribe, said that the burial had taken
place at 4am in a family plot in the village of Saddam's birth.<br>
<br>
It is Muslim practice to bury the dead within a day. Saddam's sons, Uday
and Qusay, are buried in Awja.<br><br>
Abd al-Hamid said he was buried in a remote corner, his grave covered
with the Iraqi flag.<br><br>
Saddam's family had hoped to bury him in Ramadi, a symbolic site, but
they were prevented from doing so due to security reasons.<br>
Source: Agencies<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>