Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Saddam's VP buried next to him in Ouja
(AP) Hundreds of chanting mourners buried Saddam Hussein's former vice president near the ousted dictator, his sons and two other executed deputies Tuesday in a spot that has become the graveyard of the ousted regime. Taha Yassin Ramadan's body, which was covered with the Iraqi flag, was interred in a building courtyard in the Tigris River village of Ouja hours after he was hanged for his part in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims following a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam.
Police, meanwhile, found the bullet-riddled bodies of 32 men scattered across Baghdad. The corpses showed signs of torture and were the apparent victims of sectarian death squads, most of which are believed to be operated by Shiite militias. That number was below the average of 50 bodies that were turning up daily on the capital's streets before the U.S.-Iraqi security operation started Feb. 14. Militia fighters have been lying low to avoid a confrontation with American troops. The number of execution-style deaths was notable, however, because the toll had fallen as low as seven a day, prompting American and Iraqi officials to express cautious optimism that sectarian violence was ebbing.
Police, meanwhile, found the bullet-riddled bodies of 32 men scattered across Baghdad. The corpses showed signs of torture and were the apparent victims of sectarian death squads, most of which are believed to be operated by Shiite militias. That number was below the average of 50 bodies that were turning up daily on the capital's streets before the U.S.-Iraqi security operation started Feb. 14. Militia fighters have been lying low to avoid a confrontation with American troops. The number of execution-style deaths was notable, however, because the toll had fallen as low as seven a day, prompting American and Iraqi officials to express cautious optimism that sectarian violence was ebbing.
Ramadan, Saddam's vice president at the start of the war, was hanged before dawn in what was once Iraq's military intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. Police in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, said the body was flown to the area by the U.S. military, then driven to Ouja to be buried near the flower-covered graves of co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, who were executed in January. Saddam's sons Odai and Qusai and grandson Mustafa also are buried in the courtyard, and the former dictator's grave is inside the building.
Yahya Ibrahim, a Sunni Arab cleric and member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said Ramadan had asked in his will to be buried at the site, which has become a focal point for loyalists of the former regime. Ouja, just outside Tikrit and about a 90-minute drive north of Baghdad, is near where Saddam was captured by American soldiers in December 2003.
Yahya Ibrahim, a Sunni Arab cleric and member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said Ramadan had asked in his will to be buried at the site, which has become a focal point for loyalists of the former regime. Ouja, just outside Tikrit and about a 90-minute drive north of Baghdad, is near where Saddam was captured by American soldiers in December 2003.
Labels: death squads, Ouja, Saddam Hussein, Shia militias, Taha Yassin Ramadan
