Celebrations, protests continue in Iraq over Saddam verdict
BAGHDAD, Nov 6: Mortars slammed into a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad on Monday, despite a round-the-clock curfew imposed over the capital and two volatile Sunni provinces in the wake of Saddam Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity, Witnesses said at least five mortar bombs landed on northern Baghdad's Adhamiya district, although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Other parts of Baghdad were mostly quiet, with offices and the international airport closed and few cars or pedestrians on the streets.
Checkpoints were also closed along Iraq's border with Jordan and Syria, a standard precaution taken during domestic emergencies.
Celebrations of the sentencing of the former dictator continued in predominantly Shia parts of the country, where there was no curfew along with pro-Saddam demonstrations among his fellow Sunnis.The gatherings were mostly peaceful, however, and an Interior Ministry spokesman credited the round-the-clock restrictions with staving off a feared-for spike in violence around the announcement of the verdict on Sunday.
''We need to keep on guard over any kind of response from Saddam supporters,'' Brig. Abdel-Karim Khalaf said. He said the emergency measures would likely be lifted by Tuesday morning.
In mainly Shia Hillah, 95 kilometers south of Baghdad, around 500 people marched in the streets on Monday morning, shouting slogans denouncing the former dictator, who is accused of killing tens of thousands of Shias following a 1991 uprising.
''Yes, yes for the verdict, which we have long been waiting for,'' chanted the crowd, largely made up of students and government workers.
At least three people were wounded after gunfire broke out at a Shia rally in the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Amil, a mixed Shia-Sunni area, police Lt. Maithem Abdel-Razaq said.
Ethnic Kurds, who like Iraq's majority Shias had suffered brutal persecution under Saddam, abandoned plans for a celebration rally in the northern city of Mosul over security concerns, said Ghayath al-Sorchi, an official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which is led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Al-Sorchi said PUK activists instead distributed sweets and gifts to families who lost relatives in crackdowns under the Saddam regime. Saddam is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday, when proceedings resume against him and six co-defendants in a separate trial over a crackdown against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s -- the so-called Anfal case.
Underscoring the widening divide between Shias and Sunnis, pro-Saddam demonstrators took to the streets in a number of Sunni dominated cities and mixed sectarian communities, waving Iraqi flags and portraits of Saddam. Many demanded the ouster of Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had called for the former president's execution.
Police also broke up pro-Saddam demonstrations in the northern cities of Mosul, Muqdadiya, Baqouba, Samarra, and Hawija, although there were no reports of arrests or injuries.
About 150 people marched through Fallujah, a former stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, 65 kilometers west of Baghdad, denouncing the verdict and shouting: ''We sacrifice our souls for you Saddam.''
Pro-Saddam sentiment remains strong among some Sunnis, who made up the ruling class under the former regime but have since lost their special priveledges and political power. Many others, however, have taken part in two rounds of elections held after Saddam's removal, although some Sunni politicians argued his trial should not have taken place while US forces continued to occupy the country.Sunni Arabs make up about 20 per cent of Iraq's 26 million population and Shias around 60 per cent. Kurds, who are predominantly Sunni, make up about 15-20 per cent and the remainder is Christian or from other smaller sects.—AP
