Iraqis ask for annual Remembrance Day for Saddam victims

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraq's interim premier announced the formation of a new spy agency to tackle terrorists Thursday, hours after a car bomb killed 10 people northwest of Baghdad, separately thousands of Iraqis called for the death of the former dictator as they paraded through the Iraqi capital, displaying posters of relatives killed during his years in power.

“Death to Saddam, death to the Baath party”, “No no Baath party! Yes yes Iraq!” “Let every fool listen, Saddam has to be executed,” “No, No to Tikrit” they chanted marching down a main road in Baghdad followed by others in trucks. They waved Iraqi flags and held up posters depicting mass graves.

The protesters demanded the death sentence for the detained dictator and warned any foreign lawyers planning to come to Iraq to defend him to stay away.

The protestors calling for revenge were holding cutouts of ousted Saddam during the demonstration. The cutouts were inscribed with statements “our revenge for (Ayatullah) Sayed Muhammad Baqir As-Sadr,” “Our revenge for (Ayatullah) Sayed Sadiq As-Sadr,” “Our revenge for Muslim scholars,” “Our revenge for Iraqi children,” Our revenge for Gulf war victims,” “Our revenge for victims of Halbjah” and many others.

Protest organizers said they also wanted the government to introduce an annual day of remembrance for victims of Saddam.

“It's crucial we don't forget the past,” said 50-year-old Jafar Jasim, a member of the National Islamic Independence party, an organizer of the event alongside humanitarian groups. “We will ask the Iraqi government to make this day a national holiday,” he said.

One young boy at the front of the crowd held a poster that read: “All Iraqis think Saddam brought shame to our country… He killed my brother.”

Police in vans and on foot kept a close watch on the demonstrators.

Isa al-Musawi, a 63-year-old man in tribal dress carried a picture of his executed son, Fadhil. He said his son was dragged away from a mosque in 1981 and executed by the former regime. Musawi said he only found out his son was dead 22 years later, after the US-led war, when he found his son's name on a long list of executed political prisoners.

He says Saddam should be executed live on television, but said he would prefer personally to avenge his son's death.

Another protester, Jalal Juma held a picture of his younger brother Jamal who was hauled away in a midnight raid from his house in 1980. “He was still young and was looking forward to marrying his fiancée… I still don't know why he was killed.”

A similar protest was held in the holy city of Najaf also.

Meanwhile, Iyad Allawi said Iraqi authorities had arrested some elements of the leadership of the terrorist organization al Qaeda, according to comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Thursday.

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