President Hosni Mubarak described the execution of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as barbaric, disgusting and illegal in an interview with Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot as reported by Al Ahram newspaper.
Mubarak was quoted as saying “Carrying out the execution in Eid Al-Adha is a matter that is unreasonable and unacceptable . images of the execution were barbaric and disgusting . as for the trial, as all legal experts in international law said, it is an illegal court because it is under an occupation.
The Egyptian lawyers syndicate said in a statement that the way the trial was conducted wasted a historical chance to achieve justice due to the political interventions that robbed the court of its independence and neutrality.
The statement didn t argue the right of the Iraqi people to put Saddam on trial and punish him for his crimes. But it stressed that trial procedure didn t give Saddam his right to a fair and a just trial.
In a statement released immediately after Saddam’s hanging, Human Rights Watch said: “The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein following a deeply flawed trial for crimes against humanity marks a significant step away from respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iraq.
Editor-in-chief of Al-Osboa newspaper Mustapha Bakry told The Daily Star Egypt that the execution was a “crime from a legal perspective .
“Saddam has immunity as president of the country, and this was a court started under occupation.
Bakry stated that the execution was also a moral crime, with the intent to insult Muslims celebrating the first day of the holiday of Eid.
“They killed him in cold blood, and illegally. Those who took the decision to execute him wanted to hurt and oppress Muslims, Bakri said, “If there is to be a trial, we must try (American president George) Bush, (Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri) Al Malki and the head of the court.
He added that the decision to execute Saddam on the first day of Eid was to be expected. “We are used to the Americans hurting our feelings on our holy days, such as when in Ramadan they wrote greetings on the rockets they launched into Iraq, he said.
Mubarak’s statements were a message to the Iraqi government to curb the rampant sectarianism tearing the country apart, according to the Head of Arab Research unit at the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Dr Waheed Abdel-Meguid.
“This is a message to the Iraqi government and a message against sectarianism. It was clear the execution was sectarian in nature, carried out by sectarian militias, Abdel-Meguid told The Daily Star Egypt.
He added that it didn’t look like a state execution, but he likened it to a gang of criminals who had kidnapped someone and were executing their captive.
“The manner of this execution has serious repercussions on the Sunnis and Kurds of Iraq, Abdel-Meguid said.
Presiden Mubarak’s statements concerning Saddam’s execution and the manner in which it was carried out echoed many sentiments voiced by Egyptians over the past week.
Most Egyptians who spoke to The Daily Star Egypt reflected the same views as many experts and leaders around the world in expressing anger over the timing, method, and circumstances which led to the execution.
Sabah El Gaher, a housewife, was furious when she saw the news broadcasts of Saddam being hanged.
“They hung him in Eid like he’s a sheep. The timing is an issue for many Sunnis because it was the first day of their Eid, but not the Shiite Eid, which started Sunday.
The hearings were a farce, El Gaher says. “It was an obvious act, not even well disguised.
She feels that the March 2003 invasion and the trial since has been about personalities and power rather than justice. They boosted Saddam and “let the Muslims eat into each others power so that Israel would be the only power in the region.
“He scared them [the US and Britain] somehow. We’re starting to think he was a hero and we didn’t know, that there was something under the table hidden from us.
“Even if people hated him before, they’ll like him now after his death she says.
During the trial, Saddam requested that he be executed as a military officer, in front of a firing squad. “He was a soldier, he’s supposed to be given a military death even if he killed a million people. Hanging is supposed to be for thieves, El Gaher said.
“Haram said cab driver Imam Fathi, referring to the timing of Saddam’s death. “Allah doesn’t allow this.
Fathi was in Iraq in ’89-’90 and says the Iraqi people “worshipped Saddam, who he says was very good to Egyptians.
“Why would we go there if he was so bad?
At a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Cairo on Thursday, demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans and called for the government to expel Iraqi diplomats.
Saddam was assassinated, but he will remain a symbol, chanted some 70 protesters from various Egyptian opposition parties who gathered in front of the Iraqi embassy.
We call on all Arabs to expel Iraqi missions from their capitals … because they represent an illegitimate government that is being driven by the US occupation, said Ahmad al-Fadhali, who heads the al-Salam party, one of the dozen small movements that staged the demonstration Thursday.
The protesters said they would hold memorial services in honor of the executed Iraqi president.
