WEST BANK: Angry Palestinians take to the streets of Hebron to honour former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and protest his execution

Several hundred Palestinians marched on Monday (January 1) to commemorate the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, two days after he was executed by hanging on the first day of Muslim Eid al-Adha festival. Some 1,000 men took to the streets of the West Bank city of Hebron, carrying portraits of Saddam and burning Israeli and U.S. flags in a march honouring the leader who was known as a great supporter of the Palestinian cause. It emerged on Sunday (December 31) that, although Saddam met his fate calmly, he had been taunted minutes before his death and had a frosty exchange with one of his guards, saying to the guard: "God damn you." A new video posted on a website, showed Saddam exchanging taunts with onlookers before the gallows floor dropped away. The jerky Web footage, apparently shot on a mobile phone, showed people in the execution chamber chanting the name of Shi'ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr and Saddam smiling back, saying: "Is this what you call manhood?" Seemingly accusing his captors of misrule, he replied to a taunt of "Go to hell" by asking: "The hell that is Iraq?" On the streets of Hebron, Saddam supporters held fire-brand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr responsible for the execution of the former Iraqi president. "We say to Moqtada al-Sadr that you will die at the hands of the decent , we say to Moqtada al-Sadr that you will die at the hands of the decent whereas Saddam has died at the hands of the occupation and at the hands of collaborators. Long live Saddam, long live Saddam," shouted one protester. Saddam, who ruled Iraq from 1979 until he was ousted by the US-led coalition in the 2003 Gulf War, was sentenced to death last month for the killings of 148 Shiites from the Iraqi village of Dujail in the 1980s. He lost his appeal last week.

ITN Source | January 2, 2007

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