Arabs shocked but convinced by photos of bodies

The photographs of the bruised and bloodied faces of Saddam Hussein’s sons were all some Arabs needed to be convinced the two were killed by the US army, and the reactions ranged from anger to satisfaction.

“I had a few doubts, but now I’m sure that they are dead,” said Ameen Hmoud, a Yemeni Civil Aviation employee. ”Their end fits what they did while they were alive. They deserved this death.”

Uday Hussein is accused of murdering and torturing enemies of the regime as well as Iraqis who simply angered or challenged him. Qusay Hussein was accused of helping engineer the destruction of the southern marshes in the 1990s to crush Shiite Muslims living there. Qusay also oversaw Iraq’s notorious detention centres.

The night the brothers were killed, the Iraqi capital erupted in celebratory gunfire, but a large part of the Iraqi population remained unconvinced, with many people saying they would not believe the two were dead until they had seen the pictures.

Despite their brutal reputations Izzy Hussein, a Yemeni driver living in Saudi Arabia, said Arabs should be angered at the display of the brothers’ corpses, aimed at persuading doubters Saddam’s sons and lieutenants were dead.

“They shouldn’t broadcast these pictures. Every Muslim person should retaliate. There should be revenge. No Iraqi, Arab or Muslim will forget. The Americans must pay the price for this. They are beasts,” Hussein said.

“The hatred for the Americans has grown. If they were alive and taken to court, then that would be acceptable. This is terrorism.”

Arab satellite stations broadcast the photographs as soon as they were released by the United States.

Some viewers recalled US objections when Arab stations broadcast photographs of American soldiers killed in the war to toppled Saddam. But Tony Sawaya, a Lebanese insurance broker, said the parallel was strained.

“This is a special case and they’ve released the photos upon public demand,” he said.

Sawaya said the photographs could have been tampered with, but he believed they were authentic because the Americans would not risk lying.

Sana Khalil, a Lebanese government worker, also said she believed the United States had released genuine photographs, but that “would not help convince those who doubt that they are Saddam’s sons.”