Tears, curses for Saddam

2004-07-01 22:05

Baghdad - In Baghdad, there were mixed feelings. In Tikrit, there was sadness. And in the Kurdish north, lust for revenge.

But one thing was certain: Iraq's ousted ruler Saddam Hussein and his 24-year reign still loomed large in the minds of his countrymen as he was hauled before a Iraqi Special Tribunal judge to hear the preliminary charges against him.

A grey-bearded Saddam, in a dark pinstripe suit and with heavy bags under his eyes, was charged with seven crimes, including the massacres of ethnic Kurds and Shiite Muslims.

He was also held to account for his 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

In a restaurant in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, 180km north of Baghdad, 40-year-old employee Abu Awad, wept when he saw the television images of Saddam's hearing before a judge much younger than the 67-year-old fallen despot.

He looked "more pale than usual", Awad said, watching the former president in his first appearance since he was captured hiding in a hole on a small farm near Tikrit last December.

"I would rather have died before seeing Saddam in such a position," said Awad in the largely Sunni Muslim city which lies within the heartland of the resistance to the post-Saddam order.

Added customer Falah Hassan: "Since I was young I always shared with Saddam a hatred of the West."

"They accuse him of being a dictator, they talk of democracy and freedom, but where is the democracy and the human rights in Iraq?" he said, tapping his hand nervously on the table.

"He had no choice but to lead the country with an iron fist, what better proof than the insecurity that reigns today?"

'Air of a loser'

In an old Baghdad cafe, customers, some playing dominos, sat on two benches as they watched Saddam on television.

"I remember once he advised all Iraqis to take showers two times a day. Today, he is not even taking one shower per week," scoffed Ammar Abu Ahmed, with a small cup of tea in his hand.

Some shook their heads at the man who once inspired fear with his fearsome security services and personality cult.

"He has changed. He's lost weight. He looks tired. He has the air of a loser," said Kheys Abdel Jabbar.

A few Iraqis doubted they would see justice delivered to Saddam.

"The Americans do not want to deliver him to us. He will die before his trial. For Saddam, the game is finished," Jabbar said.

Selim Ahatti, a retired teacher, hoped the trial would help heal the nation's wounds.

"The most important thing will not be the punishment but the trial because it will shine a light on all the (former) regime's crimes."

Halabja

In northern Halabja, where Saddam's regime killed 5 000 Kurds with sarin and mustard gas during one a day in 1988, there were cries for revenge.

"We want to see him suffer just a little bit of what we suffered," said Lokman Abdel Kader Mohammad.

"It will not serve us to judge Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. We want to judge him in front of the victims of the atrocities," said Khadija Mohammad Amra, 61, who lost six children during the attack ordered by Ali Hassan al-Majid, the first cousin of Saddam, also known as "Chemical Ali," and who is also facing trial.

"We want to see Saddam and Chemical Ali judged in Kurdistan for the odious crimes they committed," she said.

- AFP