DAR AL ISLAM-IRAQ: SADDAM GOES TO THE GALLOWS...

Ousted Iraqi leader goes to gallows for crimes against humanity in 1982 Shiite massacre Death comes on Sunni holy day; half-brother, ex-chief justice also hanged; Baghdad celebrates
Saddam executed
Ousted Iraqi leader goes to gallows for crimes against humanity in 1982 Shiite massacre Death comes on Sunni holy day; half-brother, ex-chief justice also hanged; Baghdad celebrates
BY SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN
Washington Post

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was hanged in the predawn hours today for crimes against humanity in the mass murder of Shiites in the 1980s, sent to the gallows by a government backed by the United States and led by the Shiite Muslims who he had oppressed during his rule, Iraqi and American officials said.

In the early morning, Saddam, 69, was escorted from his U.S. military prison cell at Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport, and handed over to Iraqi officials. He was executed on the day Sunni Muslims, of which Saddam was a member, celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.

Saddam died before a small group of observers. Earlier, on Thursday, he met with his two maternal half-brothers inside his prison cell and handed them personal messages, according to Iraqi officials. On Friday, his attorneys said, U.S. military officials asked that they take his personal belongings.

After the execution, celebratory gunfire broke out in Baghdad.

Also to be hanged were Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Haman Bander, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court. Four other co-defendants received prison terms ranging from 15 years to life. On Tuesday, the appeals court upgraded former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan's life sentence to the death penalty.

...


Taliban commander: Execution will spur jihad
Top official says Saddam Hussein’s hanging will increase opposition to U.S.

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan - A top commander of Afghanistan’s Taliban said on Saturday that the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would galvanize Muslim opposition to the United States.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former Taliban defense minister and top insurgent commander, also said Saddam’s execution on the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival — marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca — was a provocation.

“Saddam’s hanging on the day of Eid is a challenge to Muslims,” Obaidullah told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

“His death will boost the morale of Muslims. The jihad in Iraq will be intensified and attacks on invader forces will increase,” he said. “Thousands of people will rise up with hatred for America.”
The Taliban intensified their war against the Afghan government and the U.S., British and other Western troops supporting it this year.

That brought the most intense violence since U.S.-led troops ousted the hard-line Islamists in 2001, and the Taliban have vowed to step up their campaign in the coming spring.

Obaidullah said President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were fighting Muslims, and that is why Saddam was executed.

“Bush and Blair have launched a crusade against Muslims. Saddam was hanged because he was a Muslim, while slaves like Jalal Talabani in Iraq and Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan have been given power,” he said.

“Muslims should not expect any good from these people,” he said, referring to the Iraqi and Afghan presidents.

“Muslims should unite against the infidels, join the jihad and support the mujahideen because jihad has become an obligation for Muslims all over the world.”

“God willing, both Afghanistan and Iraq will prove to be another Vietnam for America ... God willing, the invader forces in Afghanistan and Iraq will soon face defeat.”

...

Pertinent Links:

1) Ousted Iraqi leader goes to gallows for crimes against humanity in 1982 Shiite massacre Death comes on Sunni holy day; half-brother, ex-chief justice also hanged; Baghdad celebrates

2) Taliban commander: Execution will spur jihad