Points of View
After Saddam's hanging, Iraq remains a troubled country
Pirated footage of Saddam Hussein's hanging shows the denominational twist the execution took and how it stirred up the Sunni Muslims' wrath.
Saddam Hussein was hung before dawn on Saturday morning. On the official tape, the dictator was surrounded by hangmen looking like bank robbers, wearing black hoods and leather jackets. He looked calm and determined, not at all like the old unshaven man who had been humiliated by American soldiers who took pictures of him in his underwear or with his mouth open. The sequence is muted and stops a few seconds before the death of the former rais.
On the pirate tape, spectators are chanting Moqtada Sadr's name, an extremist Shia imam held responsible for many of the exactions committed against the Sunni community. The trap door opens in a clatter of metal, the body falls heavily and dangles. There is a close-up of his face. Saddam died with open eyes as his neck broke. In the room, comments were heard profusely: «Let him hang on his rope», «No one bring him down».
«A religious signification»
«The conditions in which this execution was staged make Saddam's hanging exceptional. Far from witnessing the end of a dictator, we witnessed that of a brave man, who challenged the Americans, who died», notes Hasni Abidi, Director of Cermam in Geneva. The pirate video, apparently filmed with a mobile phone, is an embarrassment to the government. Yesterday (01.01.07, editor's note) the authorities ordered an official inquiry to determine who is behind taping the footage, who broadcast it on the Internet and who was chanting during the execution.
The way events occurred during the hanging of the Sunni ex-president has redeemed his image, and is thus exacerbating denominational tensions. «All was undertaken to give Saddam Hussein's hanging a religious meaning, starting with the choice of the date. Civil war was not a result of this event, but there is no doubt that it will be sharpened by it», argues Olivier Roy, Researcher at CNRS and a Muslim-world specialist. «Eid is an extremely important feast for Muslims; it is a moment of joy, peace, and tolerance. How can the Maliki government expect people to believe it is aiming for national reconciliation after that?», carries on Hasni Abidi.
Sunni Muslims, a minority in Iraq but a majority on Muslim territory, descended on the streets after the old raïs was executed, and saw the act as Shia revenge. Angry mobs paid their regards to the ex dictator in Baghdad, in Samarra, and even in his stronghold, Tikrit. «The risk now is that there will be an internationalisation of the religious breach. The reactions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and most of the Arab press seem to lean that way and it appears that Saddam's image has been improved», observes Olivier Roy. The rais is dead, long live the rais!
-- Caroline Stevan
Translated into English by Marguerite Cornu, Research Assistant trainee
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- Origin CERMAM
- http://www.cermam.org/en/logs/vue/after_saddams_hanging_iraq_rem_1/
- Publié le 12 January 2007