M A I N   N E W S

Shias rejoice, Sunnis angry

Baghdad, November 5
Iraqi Shiites broke into wild celebration today after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death, but his fellow Sunnis paraded through his hometown of Tikrit chanting, “We will avenge you Saddam." In Sadr City, the Shiite stronghold of northeast Baghdad, youths took to the streets dancing and singing, despite a total curfew declared for today over the Capital and two neighbouring provinces.

“Execute Saddam,” they chanted. Many carried posters bearing the image of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia effectively runs the district.

“This is an unprecedented feeling of happiness,” said Sadr City resident Abu Sinan, 35. "The verdict declares that Saddam is paying the price for murdering tens of thousands of Iraqis," he said.

Similar celebrations were reported in other Shiite districts of the Capital and other cities, although the size of crowds seemed to have been reduced due to the open-ended curfew declared yesterday.

Iraqi security forces and US troops mounted additional patrols, but no major incidents were immediately reported.

Arabs divided

Beirut: Arabs were sharply divided today over the death sentence against Saddam Hussein, with some praising the verdict as heavenly justice but others, sharply critical of the USA, claiming the decision was unfair.

Some analysts said the message behind the sentencing is that Washington is determined to continue its mission in Iraq and will not be intimidated by insurgents fighting it.

"If there had been no verdict, or if the verdict had been commuted, then it would have consolidated all talk about US' failure in Iraq," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi journalist.

On the street, the reaction was mixed. Some Arabs felt that Saddam, as a leader, should have had the freedom to run his country as he saw fit. They pointed to the rise of violence since he was removed from power by the US-led invasion in April 2003.

"If Saddam is condemned to death, then they must make it fair and sentence Mr (US President George) Bush to death ...

and they should send Israel's Ehud Olmert to death too because of what he did in Lebanon. If this is fair, let Saddam go to death," said Amman jeweller Ibrahim Hreish, speaking passionately about the verdict.

Ziad al-Khasawneh, the former head of Saddam's defence team said the death sentence had been expected right from the start of the trial.

Iraqis living abroad were also divided over the sentencing of their former president, who ruled Iraq with an iron fist for almost three decades.

“He deserves the death penalty,” shouted Salah Hassan, 50, a Sunni Muslim Iraqi businessman who lives in Jordan. But Jassim Ali, a 29-year-old unemployed Shiite Iraqi who lives in Jordan, called the sentence unfair. — AP