Saddam’s family mark his birthday in relative isolation

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S 66th birthday arrived yesterday with none of the elaborate fanfare of past years but with rumours the deposed dictator was still alive and planning something dastardly to mark the occasion.

In his hometown, Tikrit, small groups of supporters staged demonstrations in his support and promised celebrations for years to come.

"Saddam Hussein is one of the great Arabic leaders. We did not import him. He was born in Iraq," said Abdullah Ialeh Hussein, who claimed to be Saddam's cousin. "The Americans have occupied us, but we will continue to support him."

In Baghdad, nearly three weeks after United States troops seized the city, the compulsory mass celebrations that Saddam orchestrated for his birthday were, predictably, absent.

"Whenever we had those elections for president, everyone voted for him 100%," said Hussein al-Khafaji, an Iraqi Air Force colonel.

"And today nothing will happen, and this will prove that none of us liked him, not one."

Elsewhere in the city, a ragged man carried a placard down central Saddoun Street depicting Saddam with horns and a noose around his neck. "This is your birthday. Shame on you," it read.

Nearby, young men hawked photocopied sheets of the US Central Command's card deck of the old regime's most wanted figures, shouting to motorists: "Get the names of the Saddam clique!"

"Today is a day of happiness for me, because we got rid of him. He destroyed us," said Munhal Taleb, a 30-year-old carpenter. "We ask God that he never returns, because we are happy and God willing things will be better."

Saddam has made no public appearance since early April, and it is unclear if he is still alive.

This year was a far cry from previous passages of April 28, the date Saddam was born to a poor family in 1937.

In years past, mass singing, dancing, burning of the Israeli flag and general lavish praise of Saddam were commonplace across the land to fuel his self-promoted personality cult.

Today, portraits and statues of him were gone or defaced, with his mustachioed countenance painted over or scratched off.

For days, Baghdad has been rife with rumours that Saddam planned to unleash some unspecified violence on the city to mark his birthday. But there was no evidence that such a plan was afoot.

"How can he do anything to hurt us now that we are free?" said al-Khafaji, the Air Force colonel.

Some fretted nonetheless, and on at least one block many residents decided to stay in their homes for the day, fearing acts of reprisal by Saddam or his loyal followers.

In Tikrit, where "Happy Birthday" graffiti had been scrawled in several places, members of Saddam's clan marked the day in near silence, sitting in the house where he was born.

Hussein, Saddam's cousin, said the small demonstrations around the town were "a genuine display of our affection".

Not far away, Staff Sgt Bob Garr of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said troops were proceeding with caution.

"Today being Saddam's birthday, we are aware and trying to keep more alert," Staff Sgt Garr said.

"But other than that, this is just a regular operation."