Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was buried in the dead of night in his home village in northern Iraq, after his body had been washed and covered in a white shroud in observance of Muslim rites by a small group of fellow tribesmen.
New images on the Internet showed Saddam being hanged in Baghdad less than 24 hours earlier, showing his hooded executioners exchanging taunts with him and his body dropping through the trap. He was also shown hanging, his eyes open.
A source among the leading local Sunni Muslim clerics who took part in the funeral proceedings yesterday said that a service was first held in Tikrit, at the Saddam Mosque.
The body, which arrived in a US military helicopter, was taken to nearby Awja and laid to rest in a mosque hall in the presence of a small group of local officials and tribesmen who played a major role in Saddam's rise to power.
Hundreds of angry mourners from Saddam's Sunni Arab minority who traveled to Awja from different parts of Iraq laid flowers and pictures of Saddam by the brick-and-mud tomb.
"The Persians killed him. I can't believe it. By God, we will take revenge," said a man from the northern city of Mosul, using a term employed by some Sunnis to describe Shiites.
The Shiite-led government had first indicated Saddam's body might lie in a secret, unmarked grave for fear the site could become a shrine and focal point for Baathist rebels.
Salahaddin Governor Moham-med al-Qaisi said he had attended the 25-minute funeral, which began at 3:05am.
Arab TV stations broadcast new video images of Saddam's hanging, apparently shot on a low-quality camera or cellphone by guards or other officials at the execution.
One video on the Internet shows Saddam drop through the trap while still intoning the Muslim profession of faith.
The new video also bore out witness comments that Saddam, who looked calm and composed as he stood on the gallows, had shouted angry political slogans while masked guards were bringing him into the execution chamber once used by his own feared intelligence services.
The New York Times quoted a witness as saying that one of the guards shouted just before the hanging: "You have destroyed us. You have killed us. You have made us live in destitution."
Saddam answered: "I have saved you from destitution and misery and destroyed your enemies, the Persians and Americans."
In related news, the Egyptian press yesterday described Saddam's execution as "a sacrifice" made on the Muslim feast of Id al-Adha.
"The United States doesn't care about Muslims' feelings: [US President George W.] Bush kills Saddam on the day of the feast," the liberal Al-Wafd daily's headline read.
Muslims around the world are celebrating Id al-Adha, which remembers the sacrifice God asked Abraham to make of his son.
also see stories:
Saddam's family may be key to fortune
Saddam's fate divides opinion within Baghdad
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
’DISTORTION’: Beijing’s assertion that the US agreed with its position on Taiwan is a recurring tactic it uses to falsely reinforce its sovereignty claims, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said Chinese state media deliberately distorted Taiwan’s sovereign status, following reports that US President Donald Trump agreed to uphold the “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi urged Trump to retreat from trade measures that roiled the global economy and cautioned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, a Chinese government summary of the call said. China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that the US should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously and avoid the two countries being drawn into dangerous
RSS