The execution of Saddam Hussein has sparked a wave of support for the former Iraqi president around the Arab world, with some proclaiming him a martyr and comparing him to heroes of Arab nationalism -- raising resentment against the US and the Shiite-led Iraqi government.
Praise for Saddam has only grown since his Dec. 30 hanging, eclipsing what had been a greater acknowledgement in recent years of the atrocities committed by his regime.
On Monday, the independent Egyptian paper, Al-Karama, splashed Saddam's photo over a full page, with an Iraqi flag behind him, declaring him an "Arab martyr."
"He lived as hero, died as a man," another Egyptian opposition newspaper, Al-Osboa, proclaimed in a headline, showing a photo of Saddam at the gallows.
The praise has angered the Iraqi government and Kuwait, which Saddam invaded in 1990. On Monday, Kuwaiti lawmakers slammed Arab countries that described the former Iraqi leader as a hero and demanded the government reconsider ties and financial aid to them.
Anger over the execution could fuel support for Iraq's Sunni Muslim insurgency. It could also complicate the US' efforts to rally Arab nations' help in reconciling Iraq's warring Sunni and Shiite communities and ease the nation's bloodshed.
In large part, it was the unruly scene at the gallows that catapulted Saddam to hero's status. In video footage smuggled out of the execution room, Saddam's Shiite executioners were seen taunting and cursing him, while the former leader -- his head unbowed -- retorted: "Is this manly?"
For many, the scene came to symbolize dignified Arab resistance in the face of humiliation at the hands of a Shiite government seen by some in the region as illegitimate, backed by the US military presence and closely allied to predominantly Shiite Iran.
Some media compared Saddam to another hero of Arab nationalism against Western domination: Omar al-Mokhtar, the leader of resistance against Italy's military occupation of Libya, who was executed by hanging in 1931.
Egypt's nationalist weekly newspaper Al-Arabi published a cartoon on Sunday showing an open book with pictures of Saddam and al-Mokhtar on facing pages.
The reaction was in contrast to the shock that followed Saddam's capture by US troops in December 2003. At the time, Saddam was humiliated, shown bearded and bedraggled in photos as he was pulled out of a hole by US troops.
The images sparked a debate across the region over his dictatorship. Many pointed out his weakness in the face of US forces and over the following years, Arab media dealt more frankly with the mass killings carried out by Saddam's regime. Languishing in US custody, Saddam faded in relevance and coverage of his trial waned in Arab media.
But after the execution, even some Arab critics of Saddam said his new heroic status was more significant now than his record of crimes and atrocities.
"Five sublime minutes at the hanging rope created the myth," columnist Abdel-Halim Qandil wrote in Al-Karama. "The story of Saddam the bloody dictator was over, replaced by Saddam's image similar to Omar al-Mokhtar."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suggested the execution could worsen the situation in Iraq.
"It was disgraceful and very painful," Mubarak said of the execution in an interview with the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot on Thursday. "They [the Iraqi government] have made him into a martyr, while the problems within Iraq remain."
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