DAR AL HARB-U.S.A.-MASSACHUESETTS: 'HOLY DAY' FOR CELEBRATION NOT EXECUTION

Some Muslims say holy day is for celebration, not execution
Saturday December 30, 2006
BRANDIE M. JEFFERSON
Associated Press writer

BOSTON (AP) As Mohamed Lamaallem distributed leaflets promoting the Muslim American Society, he wanted to know why, of all days, Saddam Hussein's execution would be carried out while Muslims celebrate one of their holiest festivals.

On the same day as Saddam's execution, thousands of Muslim Americans met in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood to praise god, give to the poor and browse vendors selling everything from headscarves to Girl Scout cookies on the first day of Eid al-Adha.

It was a day for celebrations, people said, not for executions.

``When you do a right act at the wrong time, it can become a wrong act,'' Lamaallem, a 34-year-old Morocco native, said at a bazaar following prayers at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Eid al-Adha marks the end of Hajj, the pilgrimage many Muslims make to Mecca, and commemorates the ancient story of Abraham, who nearly sacrificed his child at god's request.

Saddam was convicted and sentenced to death nearly two months ago. Iraq's highest court rejected his appeal Monday and ordered him executed within 30 days.

Imam Abdullah T. Faaruuq of the Mosque for Praising of Allah in Boston, said an execution was inappropriate not because Saddam was a good person, but because it stands in opposition to Eid al-Adha's themes of sacrifice and piousness and does nothing to improve the war in Iraq which, he said, was a mistake to begin with.

As Americans, he said, ``the war has accomplished nothing for us. And the death of Saddam Hussein has accomplished nothing for the Muslim community.''

But Anwart Diab, 67, feels differently. The Natick resident is an Iraqi native who worked in Saddam's government. Diab spoke to several media outlets Saturday and in a statement published in the Boston Herald, said: ``The government in Iraq will gain respect from the people through this execution. The government is looked on as a paper tiger ... that goes nowhere. A real tiger is a source of respect.'' He didn't answer his home phone Saturday, and did not have an answering machine.

Downtown a much smaller, secular group, braved the early evening snow to share their views on Saddam's execution outside of the Marine Corps Recruiting building.

About five people wore banners calling for the war's end and passed out fliers that referred to Saddam's execution as ``part of the Bush Administration's plan to once again escalate the war'' by drawing attention away from the record number of deaths of U.S. troops this month; 109 as of Saturday.

Steve Kirschbaum, a member of the International Action Center, which organized several such protests around the country, made no claims about Saddam's guilt or innocence but said the execution was a ``serious violation of international law ... a legal lynching.''

The advocacy group was founded by Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark who was a member of Saddam's defense team.

Clark has called the Iraqi Special Tribunal established and trained and funded by the United States an illegal entity that follows no legal procedures, most notably the right to due process.
Kirschbaum said the implications will reach much further than the fate of Saddam and his co-defendants.

``It comes down to: do you believe that to have justice you have to have your day in court?''


Pertinent Links:

1) Some Muslims say holy day is for celebration, not execution