braced for revenge attacks against them. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Shiite leader who pushed for a quick execution, said he was concerned about video footage showing Saddam drop through the trap door while still intoning the Muslim profession of faith. He was abruptly cut off in the second verse: "I bear witness that Mohammad…"
He was also shown hanging with his eyes open in the film which was punctuated by flashes, apparently as witnesses took photographs. Guards also shouted insults that included "Go to hell," and "Muqtada" a reference to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose father Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr was murdered in 1999, probably by the Saddam’s agents.
Among international leaders, British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said the leaked footage of Saddam’s death was "totally unacceptable" and those responsible should be condemned. "I think the manner was quite deplorable really. I don’t think one can endorse in any way that, whatever your views about capital punishment," he said, according to Independent Television Network (ITN).
Religious minorities and especially Iraqi Christians have made clear they fear the execution could lead to more sectarian violence directed against them. Christians have been often viewed by militants as supportive to the US-led coalition and American religious values.
WORLD COUNCIL
In a statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) regretted the execution and urged the Iraqi government to help in the process of reconciliation.
"We pray that those who hold power in Iraq now and in the future will create a new heritage of government for its people," said WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia. "May Iraq’s leaders pursue reconciliation and mutual respect among all its communities."
However there were no signs of that Tuesday, January 2, amid reports that police found 15 bodies in northern Baghdad. On the first day of the New Year, Iraqi police already discovered 40 handcuffed, blindfolded and bullet-riddled bodies in Baghdad.
A police official, who refused to be identified because of security fears, said 15 of the bodies were discovered in the mainly industrial Sheik Omar district of northern Baghdad, news reports said. Their identities were not immediately clear, but church officials have said that Christians have been forced to close churches because of the violence and sectarian strife.
CHRISTIANS EMIGRATE
The violence in Iraq has prompted half of the country’s Christians to emigrate, said an official of the Chaldean patriarchate of Baghdad. In published remarks Auxiliary Bishop Andraos Abouna said the international charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is involved in sheltering over 35,000 Christians seeking refuge in Syria.
Many more are believed to stay elsewhere in the region. Before war broke out, there were an estimated 750,000 Iraqi Christians but some church observers and independent groups have suggested that figure has dropped to roughly 450,000.
US forces have been unable to reduce the violence as they struggle with casualties among their own. On Tuesday, January 2, the estimated death toll of US soldiers stood at 3003, according to independent website Icasualties.org.
The Pentagon has reportedly confirmed 2,983 deaths as of Monday evening, but the several sources said it often lags behind civilian counts because of notification procedures. Tens of thousands of US soldiers, many of them Christians, have been injured in attacks.
President George W. Bush is considering sending more forces into the almost four-year conflict some now call a full-blown civil war. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Iraq).
