Fred Harteis News - Hussein's execution brings tears, jubilation and fear


Fred Harteis News Articles - A 40-year-old Iraqi Shiite cried as she recounted the hanging of Saddam Hussein, saying the new Iraqi government offered him as a "sacrifice" to Iran and the United States. Just a few blocks away, a 70-year-old woman showed no remorse. "Good riddance," she said.

Across the country, Iraqis have met the execution of the former dictator with mixed emotions, ranging from jubilation to tears. There also is astonishment, indifference and fear of what's to come.

"I watched the whole thing with disbelief on Saturday. I was trembling and even afraid that it was being staged and that they would not kill Saddam. But the tyrant is gone," said a guard working near Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

Close by, his comrades were busy showing each other footage of the Saddam execution circulating on mobile telephones. Most were Shiites from very poor backgrounds who live in the slums of Sadr City and support radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Another guard spoke about anger and sadness in Sunni parts of Baghdad where Hussein, who was Sunni, was mourned. He said mock funerals were held in the staunchly Sunni Arab district of Ameriyah with people parading an empty coffin draped with an Iraqi flag. Black funeral banners were put up on the walls calling Saddam a "hero and a martyr," he said. Ameriyah is the scene of frequent clashes between government forces and hardline Sunni insurgents.

In Salehiya, one of the few remaining mixed neighborhoods in Baghdad, the family of Musa Mohammed celebrated both the first day of Eid Al-Adha for Shiites and the execution of Saddam.

The lawn in front of the family's two-story home was stained with a pool of blood where a sheep was slaughtered earlier in honor of the occasion.

To read this complete Fred Harteis News Article visit our news partner at:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/31/iraqi.reaction/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Source: Cnn.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International. Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.