|
Deep doubt over photos
25/07/2003 19:47 - (SA)
Baghdad - Iraqis reacted with a mixture of scepticism, suspicion and some relief on Friday to the release of pictures of the bloodied corpses of Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, with many still in disbelief that the dreaded brothers were really killed.
The United States announced the deaths of the brothers on Tuesday after a gun battle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
But despite the release of five grisly photographs depicting the two corpses, and independent journalists gaining access to view the bodies on Friday, Iraqis on the streets of the capital Baghdad were left largely unconvinced.
"Anybody can fake something like that," Bassum Shimmary, 41, told AFP of the photographs which were distributed on computer disc by the coalition in Baghdad on Thursday and shown on Iraqi television that evening.
"I don't believe it, because the Americans acted so unbelievably," he said in reference to the heavy-handed US force in Mosul which led to the brothers' death instead of their capture.
"We are five people here, and there are five differing opinions," said Ahmad Essa, a computer salesman in downtown Baghdad, referring to the men gathered in his boss Laith Dinkha's electronics shop.
Two, including Dinkha, believed the weight of evidence suggesting the two men on slabs at the airport were indeed Uday and Qusay.
But three of the men remained unconvinced, despite seeing new independent footage and photographs of the bodies on Friday on satellite television, as well as images of an X-ray of eldest son Uday's left leg which was badly injured in a 1996 assassination attempt.
"We want them dead, we do," said Essa, 46. "But we are not satisfied."
In Mosul, a few dozen Iraqis gathered around the shell of the house in which the brothers died. Several said they did not believe Uday and Qusay had been inside.
"We decided the people in the house were not Uday and Qusay," said Shabib Hassom, 30. "There is no clear evidence. We think they were just some innocent people there."
Baghdad gas station employee Mohsen Mallah, 53, said the facial swelling and extent of the injuries made it impossible to prove the pictures were those of the two brothers.
"Anyway, there are rumours they are living in the United States."
The lack of newspapers on Friday, the traditional Muslim day of prayer, is fueling the scepticism in this country where word of mouth plays a vital role in the spread of information.
The vast majority of Iraqis have no access to television or the Internet. Dental records - which the Americans stressed were used to help confirm Uday and Qusay's identities - are an unfamiliar concept in Iraq.
"We are not convinced. Nobody in Iraq believes it," added one man at a Baghdad street market, where men had gathered round to discuss the fate of two of the most hated Iraqis.
Still, some were confident the photographs spoke the truth.
"We believe (the photos are real)," said Yassin Khader, 58, as the swirling debate died down around him, "but we are upset they were killed."
"Both are 100% them," said Hassan Fadr al-Saadi, 60, hailing the confirmation as an important event for Iraq. "We want justice."
Several Iraqis, including Khader, said they were disappointed there would be no trial of Qusay, former head of Iraq's dreaded security apparatus, and his despised elder brother Uday.
Washington has admitted it broke US military protocol and published the photos in order to help overcome the deep suspicion in Iraq.
- AFX
|
News
