Iraqi reaction to Saddam´s verdict : Joy vs Angry

Source: CCTV.com | 11-06-2006 17:51

Shi'ites across Iraq celebrated after deposed leader Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. But the verdict sparked clashes and triggered mixed reactions in the Middle East.

Following the announcement, clashes immediately broke out in north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district where police battled men with machine guns.

At least seven mortar shells slammed to earth around the Abu Hanifa mosque, the holiest Sunni shrine in the capital. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Sunday that Saddam Hussein's trial was fair, but would not comment on the verdict or death sentence.

Some people on the streets of Baghdad and the Holy City of Najaf welcomed the verdict, and celebratory gunfire rang out in parts of the cities. One citizen said, “This is what we hoped for, and this is the day when we achieved our hope. It is fair punishment for the tyrant Saddam Hussein.”

In Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, 1,000 people defied the curfew and carried pictures of the former president through the streets.

Some declared the court a product of the U.S. "occupation forces" and decried the verdict. In the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, U.S. troops detained some demonstrators who insisted on taking to the streets to protest Saddam's death penalty.

Ahead of the verdict, dozens of Palestinians had gathered at a square in the West Bank town of Nablus on Sunday morning to show their support for Saddam.

Editor:Sun Luying