Saddam is hanged and the government plans to send the army door to door to root out the resistance, reports Nermeen Al-Mufti Will the Iraqi government succeed in limiting the damage caused by Saddam's execution? Will the banned Baath Party carry out the threats it made to retaliate? Many questions are still hanging in the air. In Baghdad, there has been no particular rise in violence since Saddam's execution, although the daily death toll is still close to 100. Speaking on the anniversary of the formation of the Iraqi army, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki threatened to "reconsider" ties with any country that refuses to show respect for Iraq's choices, saying that Saddam's execution was an "internal affair". As Iraqis flocked in number to visit the site of Saddam's burial in his home village of Al-Awjah, near Tikrit, across the country reactions were mixed. In some parts the scene was one of jubilation, in others it was one of anger and defiance. The execution would have caused less controversy had it not been for the leaked video of Saddam's last moments. A political science professor who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity said, "let me tell you that I am a Shia. And yet I believe that the footage shown on www.kitabat.com, a site known for its neutrality, makes it clear that someone wants to send a message that Saddam's execution was an act of vengeance." Maliki's government has tried to limit the damage caused by the footage by allowing the body of the former president to be buried in his hometown and by not clamping down on pro-Saddam demonstrations, the professor added. Following the execution, Maliki issued a statement calling on the "misguided" supporters of the former regime to "reconsider their views," adding that the "door is still open for those whose hands are not smeared with the blood of Iraqis." Another university professor, a former Baathist who recently had to attend what she called "brainwashing sessions" as a condition for getting back her job, said: "Since his capture, Saddam became the means through which the occupation forces humiliated the Iraqis. At last, President Bush has avenged himself. We all recall that in January 2003, Bush accused Saddam of having attempted to kill his father. This was a reference to a failed attempt to kill the former US president in Kuwait in 1993. Saddam's involvement in the attempt was never proven." Political analyst Saad Qasem said that the Baathists were unlikely to carry out threats of retaliation. "Had the Baathists been serious, they would have carried out an attack before Saddam's execution as a warning, for everyone knew that Saddam would be executed. In the sessions of the Dujail trial, prosecutor Jaafar Al-Musawi said that if Saddam was sentenced to death, the sentence would be carried out without waiting for further court proceedings." The decision to execute Saddam must have been reached during the meeting of Bush and Maliki in Amman in late November 2006 "as a way of ushering in the new US strategy in Iraq," Qasem added. A statement issued by Maliki's office only hours after the execution reassured the nation that Saddam "didn't represent any group or section of Iraqis, but only himself." The statement pledged that, "the new Iraq wouldn't be ruled by one party or sect from now on." Iraqis are deeply divided on Saddam's legacy. In Al-Anbar and Salaheddin provinces and the cities of Tikrit and Falluja, demonstrators took to the streets to denounce the execution. In Falluja, a main thoroughfare has been renamed as "Martyr Saddam Hussein Street." By contrast, jubilant celebrations were held in the dominantly Shia southern areas as well as in Sadr City, a Shia suburb of Baghdad, where Saddam's execution was re-enacted in effigy. Meanwhile, Baghdad has a new security plan. According to Maliki, the plan will be put into action by the Iraqi army with support from the multinational forces. "Out of concern for the higher interests of the country, we categorically reject the involvement of political parties in the implementation of the security plan," the prime minister added. Maliki didn't specify which parties posed a threat to Baghdad's security plan. But he promised that the plan "wouldn't provide a safe haven for outlaws, regardless of their sectarian or political affiliations." Only the army and security forces would be allowed to carry weapons in the country. "The national unity government is giving high priority to the army. The army will be receiving helicopters and other US hardware within two months. The army is the true guarantee of security and stability," the prime minister said. A source close to the Interior Ministry told the Weekly that the security plan would focus on high mobility and manoeuvrability. "Baghdad would be divided into nine sections and houses will be searched one by one in an effort to arrest insurgents and members of death squads." The Iraqi Reconciliation Front of Adnan Al-Duleimi requested that foreign troops accompany Iraqi forces during the searches as a precaution against abuses "since Iraqi security forces are not neutral". Political analyst Raad Kamel doesn't believe that Bush's new plan for Iraq will change much. The neo-cons, who were responsible for everything that happened to Iraq, would be in charge of the new plan, and an increase in US troop levels wouldn't bring about stability, he said.
