Saddam: Video Shows Less-Than Decorous Execution

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Saddam: Video Shows Less-Than Decorous Execution

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

sent by MichaelP (activ-l)

[In the earliest accounts, BBC relied on the Iraqi national Security adviser
al-Rubaie for info that besides being shackled Saddas was hooded - that
was later "corrected" once the official video was released. But now there's
unofficial video from the witness-seats.]

BBC - Dec 31, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6220829.stm

Video shows taunts at execution

Saddam Hussein on gallows in latest footage

It is not known who filmed the latest footage of the execution


New footage of Saddam Hussein's final moments reveals the former Iraqi
president exchanged taunts and insults with witnesses at his
execution.

The grainy images are believed to have been filmed on a mobile phone.

Unlike on the silent, official film showing a subdued Saddam Hussein, the
execution is a charged, angry scene.

In it people chant the name of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and
tell Saddam Hussein to "go to hell", while the former leader mocks
their bravery.

And unlike the official film, which was released on Saturday, the new
video shows the moment that the gallows trapdoor opens, sending Saddam
Hussein to his death.

Some of the guards started to taunt him - by shouting Islamic words

It also has images of Saddam Hussein's face as he swings dead from the
noose.

The amateur footage first appeared on websites and then excerpts began
airing on major news channels.

It is not known who filmed the video and whether its release was
officially sanctioned. However, it is clear that the seemingly quiet,
dignified send off, portrayed on the official video does not tell the
whole story.

Shot from below the gallows, the video begins with Saddam Hussein,
surrounded men by masked men, being led out onto the trapdoor.

The darkened scene is frequently lit up by flashes from people taking
photographs.

As he shuffles forward, the crowd of witnesses standing below can be
heard talking in conversational tones, but as the noose is placed
around his neck the crowd becomes more agitated, with some shouting out
insults.

"Do you consider this bravery?

Hanging sparks media storm Pictures of aftermath

One of the unseen observers shouts "go to hell", others chant the name of
Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr and of Mohammed Bakr Sadr, his uncle who was
murdered by Saddam Hussein's agents.

In response Saddam Hussein is sarcastic, asking "do you consider this
bravery?"

He begins intoning the shahada, the Islamic creed, saying "there is no God
but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God. There
is no God but Allah and I testify that Muhammad" - at which point he
is cut off as the trapdoor opens and he falls.

MATCHING ACCOUNTS

Noise breaks out, and a voice shouts out "the tyrant has fallen, damn
him!" as the camera swings around wildly for a few seconds before
settling on a close up image of Saddam Hussein still swinging on the
noose, his lifeless face upturned, eyes open.

I feel saddened by the death of Saddam, not because he deserved to live
but because it is taking place under US occupation of Iraq

Arab news channels have run abridged versions of the crudely shot
film, stopping short of the moment of execution.

The latest video tallies with an account of the event given by one of the
witnesses present.

In an interview with the BBC's John Simpson, Judge Munir Haddad said
that as Saddam Hussein was led up the steps to the gallows he was
reciting "God is Great!" and also some political slogans like: "Down
with the Americans!" and "Down with the Invaders!"

"We're going to Heaven and our enemies will rot in Hell!" he said,
according to Judge Haddad, and called for forgiveness and love amongst
Iraqis, but also stressed that the Iraqis should fight the Americans and
the Persians.

"Some of the guards started to taunt him - by shouting Islamic words. A
cleric who was present asked Saddam to recite some spiritual words. Saddam
did so, but with sarcasm. These were his last words," Judge Haddad
said.

***

TRANSLATION OF ARABIC SUBTITLES accompanying the latest execution
footage when broadcast on al-Jazeera TV station:

[Saddam] Oh God.

[Voices] May God's blessings be upon Muhammad and his household.

[Voices] And may God hasten their appearance and curse their enemies.

[Voices] Moqtada [Al-Sadr]...Moqtada...Moqtada.

[Saddam] Do you consider this bravery?

[Voice] Long live Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr.

[Voice] To hell.

[Voice] Please do not. The man is being executed. Please no, I beg you to
stop.

[Saddam] There is no God but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the
messenger of God. There is no God but Allah and I testify that
Muhammad...

At this point the video stops and the sound of the trapdoors opening is
heard in the background.

***

BBC Monitor - Dec 31, 2006
http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/'

[BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press,
news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.]

The media in the Middle East have been transfixed by the story of
Saddam Hussein's execution.

The main state-funded Iraqi television channel, Al-Iraqiya, has been
jubilant in tone, combining coverage of the Muslim festival of Eid
al-Adha with the "the happy day of the execution of Saddam".

Throughout the morning, the channel repeatedly broadcast footage of the
former Iraqi leader being led to the gallows and scenes of Iraqis
celebrating in the streets, to the strains of a folk song calling for
Saddam's death.

MIXED REACTION

The channel showed clips of Iraqis emotionally praising Saddam
Hussein's death, but no criticism of the execution was shown.

Coverage on the international Arabic-language TV stations has been
more balanced, reflecting conflicting attitudes towards Saddam Hussein in
the wider Middle East.

Al-Jazeera TV interviewed several commentators who defended Saddam's
record as an Iraqi and Arab leader, but the presenters' questioning was
challenging and neutral in tone.

The channel also broadcast an interview with a man it described as a
representative of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, who described the
execution as an "ugly crime" and said the Iraqi insurgency would seek to
avenge the former president. A commentary on Egyptian state radio
questioned the wisdom of executing Saddam Hussein during Eid
al-Adha, and suggested the execution was illegal.

"It is no secret to anyone that the trial was carried out under the
auspices of the American occupation," the radio said, adding: "There can
be no claim that the former Iraqi president had a fair trial."

While the actual execution came too late for the press, the event had
been anticipated in the Saturday editions of the international
Arabic-language newspapers, based in London.

A commentary in one newspaper, Al-Sharq al-Awsat, said the execution of
Saddam Hussein could not come soon enough.

"The real question which the Iraqi and US authorities should be asked is,
why was the trial and execution of the former Iraqi president, Saddam
Hussein, delayed?" the article said.

However, Abd-al-Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief Al-Quds al-Arabi,
wrote that the execution would be the United States' "worst mistake" in
Iraq, leading to an increase in violence and destroying any chances for
national reconciliation.

He also thought people in the wider Arab world would remember the
former Iraqi leader fondly.

"The Arab people will remember President Saddam Hussein as the sole
Arab leader who fired 40 missiles into Tel Aviv and stood with the
Palestinian resistance," he said.

***

Arab news channels have run abridged versions of the crudely shot
film, stopping short of the moment of execution.

The latest video tallies with an account of the event given by one of the
witnesses present.

In an interview with the BBC's John Simpson, Judge Munir Haddad said
that as Saddam Hussein was led up the steps to the gallows he was
reciting "God is Great!" and also some political slogans like: "Down
with the Americans!" and "Down with the Invaders!"

"We're going to Heaven and our enemies will rot in Hell!" he said,
according to Judge Haddad, and called for forgiveness and love amongst
Iraqis, but also stressed that the Iraqis should fight the Americans and
the Persians.

"Some of the guards started to taunt him - by shouting Islamic words. A
cleric who was present asked Saddam to recite some spiritual words. Saddam
did so, but with sarcasm. These were his last words," Judge Haddad
said.

*
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