What does the sentencing of Saddam Hussein mean for the future of Iraq, asks Salah Hemeid The Bush administration, despite repeated denials, might well have influenced the timing of the judgment on Saddam Hussein's trial -- Sunday's ruling that Iraq's former dictator is "to be hanged until he is dead" -- to bolster faltering Republican support ahead of Tuesday's mid-term congressional elections. Now the elections are over, and with Republicans and Democrats both calling for a rethink of policy on Iraq, the White House must make some hard decisions. It remains to be seen how the impact of the Saddam verdict will influence US policy. One option said to be under discussion is to press the Iraqi government to take decisions that might help quell sectarian violence, including offering an amnesty to Sunni insurgents and offering guarantees for an equitable share of oil revenues. Sunday's ruling was greeted with gunfire in Iraq's Shia and Kurdish populated cities as residents took to the streets to celebrate the conviction of their former ruler for crimes against humanity. He was found guilty of ordering the torture and murder of 148 inhabitants of the Shia village of Dujail, scene of a 1982 assassination attempt against him. Saddam, forcibly raised to his feet by guards in the courtroom, greeted his sentence with shouts of "Long live Iraq, long live the (Arab) nation." For Shias and Kurds the verdict came as vindication for 23 years of suffering under Saddam's brutal rule. But in a land of long memories, deep grudges and raging sectarian violence, many in the Sunni community were shocked. As celebrations continued in Shia areas, US and Iraqi military convoys came under attack in several Sunni cities. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, a Shia, hailed the verdict as "the end of a dark era and beginning of a new epoch" in which the rule of law "will be supreme". Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and head of the ruling Shia alliance, also praised the judgment and urged Iraqis to unite: "I hope the verdict will bring a closure to this tragic and brutal episode in Iraqi history. We must never forget, and we must always be vigilant so tyranny never reemerges in Iraq." President Bush, whose Iraq strategy many Republicans blame for losing votes, called the verdict "a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law". British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's staunchest ally in the war on Iraq, said he opposed the death penalty for Saddam even though the deposed Iraqi leader's trial had reminded the world of his brutality. Elsewhere, Kuwait and Iran, both victims of Saddam's military adventures, greeted the sentence with satisfaction; Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa described the verdict as "a dramatic end to the outgoing regime" while the Vatican characterised it as a throwback to "eye for an eye" vengeance. Many European leaders, while welcoming the guilty verdict, said Saddam should not be put to death, and the consensus among lawyers and human rights advocates is that the Iraqi tribunal's proceedings fell short of international standards for cases involving war crimes. Few would argue that the sentence was anything other than a foregone conclusion. The question now is whether it will alter the course of events as Iraq seems inexorably to slide into chaos. Immediately after the strict curfew imposed to coincide with the ruling was lifted, the violence continued in Baghdad and several other cities. Some 35 people were killed and 55 wounded on Tuesday in mortar attacks on the Adhamiya Sunni neighbourhood in north Baghdad. Before midnight Sunnis had retaliated. A suicide bomber blew himself up at a coffee shop in a nearby Shia neighbourhood killing and wounding dozens. The death sentence reverberated within the ruling establishment with Sunni politicians, including the President Tariq Al-Hashimi threatening to leave the government if attacks against Sunni areas continue. Saddam loyalists have issued several statements threatening to "set Baghdad ablaze" if the death sentence is acted upon. The Sunni insurgency is so deeply entrenched and sectarian bloodlust so strong that many Iraqis doubt that the rift between Sunni and Shia is bridgeable. Without a political solution that embraces Sunni insurgents there is little chance that violence will ebb, regardless of what Saddam's fate eventually turns out to be. Post-Saddam verdict Iraq could all too easily become a more violent place in the next few weeks. Sunnis driven by religious, nationalistic and sectarian passions have never linked their revolt to Saddam's fate, distancing themselves from the former leader. They say they are fighting for an end to the American occupation and what they perceive as Shia domination. But there is another scenario. Baathists, who have been reorganising, might see Saddam's execution as the end of an era. With Saddam gone they might feel free to pursue a more reconciliatory agenda and even engage in negotiations with the Americans for a share in government. There are signs that some Baathists might be willing to join if they are offered the right deal. Unconfirmed news reports suggest that Baathists have already met with American diplomats in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Last month Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Iraq, said the US had enlisted help from key Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates -- in a bid to bring Sunni insurgents to the table. Saddam, speaking on Tuesday in court, also seemed to urge his followers to reconciliation. "I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands," he said, somewhat belatedly.
