Pledging revenge, hundreds flock to Saddam's tomb
Source: Reuters
By Ghazwan al-Jibouri AWJA, Iraq, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Pledging revenge, hundreds of mourners flocked to Saddam Hussein's tomb in his home village in northern Iraq on Sunday, where the ousted leader was buried in private after being hanged for crimes against humanity. In an outpouring of grief and anger from Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs at the Shi'ite-led government that rushed through the execution, mourners knelt and prayed by his tomb over which the Iraqi flag had been draped. Sectarian passions that have pushed Iraq toward civil war since U.S. troops overthrew him in 2003 could be further inflamed by video on the Internet showing Shi'ite officials taunting Saddam as he stood on the gallows on Saturday. "The Persians have 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 Shi'ites who share their faith with non-Arab Persian-speaking Iran. "All we can do now is take it out against the Americans and the government," said another mourner who paused by the tomb in a marble-floored mosque hall in Awja, near the city of Tikrit. A portrait of a smiling Saddam wearing his trademark fedora hat was propped up in a chair. Groups of several dozen mourners took turns in the domed hall to pay their respects. Minted tea and bitter coffee was served in an adjacent room, where Saddam was referred to by many as a martyr against the U.S. occupation. The government had initially indicated Saddam's body might lie in a secret, unmarked grave, fearing it could become a pilgrimage site for Baathist rebels and Saddam's Sunni Arabs. But after lobbying from Saddam's Albu Nasir tribe for the ousted dictator to rest in Awja, a U.S. helicopter flew Saddam's body by night to Tikrit, where it was delivered in a coffin to Salahaddin Governor Mohammed al-Qaisi, tribal chieftain Ali al-Nida and other local officials. Saddam's body was later driven to Awja in a police vehicle and buried in the middle of the night, after it was washed and covered in a white shroud in observance of Muslim rite. Saddam's two sons Uday and Qusay, killed by U.S. troops in 2003, lie in a family plot in Awja's cemetery. The burial was attended by a small group of people. Symbolic funerals were held in other Sunni towns and cities in Iraq, including the Baghdad insurgent bastion of Amriya. Ignoring hesitation among Sunni Arabs and Kurdish members of his government, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki rushed through the execution of his former enemy in a move that boosted his authority among fellow Shi'ites. But many fear it could further exacerbate sectarian passions among Sunnis. New images on the Internet showing Shi'ite officials taunting Saddam as he stood on the gallows on Saturday -- including one who shouts "Go to hell!" before Saddam drops through the trap door -- could reinforce perceptions by Sunni Arabs that the trial was "victors' justice".
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