Saddam Gets Death
Saddam, shaking and defiant, was sentenced in Baghdad today after being found guilty of ordering the murder of Iraqi civilians.
“Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greatest) and “Long live the nation!”, he shouted, pointing defiantly at the judge as the verdict was delivered.
Tonight George Bush said: “Saddam Hussein’s trial is a milestone in the Iraqi people’s efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law.
“It is a major achievement for Iraq’s young democracy and its constitutional government.”
…
Saddam was convicted of ordering the deaths of 148 Shia men and teenage boys in the town of Dujail in 1982.
The killings followed a failed assassination attempt against him and were intended to act as a grim warning to others not to oppose him.
Amnesty International was not impressed, apparently. (I guess they liked the “you are no dictator” judge better.)
He had wanted to face a firing squad - that request was refused.
Celebratory gunfire echoed across Baghdad while fighting broke out in the north of the city.
Saddam’s lawyer said the former president urged Iraqis “not to take revenge” on the US coalition and to “unify in the face of sectarian strike”.
Sporadic violence has been reported in other parts of the country.
What a strange situation.
