Following the death of Saddam Hussein’s sons - at a gun battle on Tuesday, July 22, at their hideout in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul - several of Iraq’s political leaders feel that the ‘road’ to capturing the deposed Iraqi president has now become much ‘shorter’. The leaders who talked to Al Bawaba also hope that Saddam will be arrested rather than killed so that he can be brought to bear for his crimes - and a comprehensive investigation into the way he conducted his life [as former president of Iraq] can be launched.
Colonel Adel al Jebouri from the Iraqi Tribal Alliance (a political party) reiterated that the Iraqi public is feeling jubilant following the reports about the death of the overthrown president’s sons - Uday and Qusay. He said, “Had they been captured alive, it would have been more important for the Iraqis as they would have had the chance to get back at them.”
For his part, member of the politburo of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - Mohammad al Hariri - said, “these two names…Uday and Qusay… have been inscribed in the minds of the Iraqi people as they have been responsible for some of the most repressive apparatuses in the toppled regime’s government. These apparatuses were behind many of the crimes in Iraq as well as the assassinations of the many Iraqi politicians and distinguished personalities throughout Saddam’s tenure.”
He added, “the Iraqi people today are either rejoicing for getting rid of them once and for all, or saddened by the fact that they were not able to bring the two before the court for the many crimes they committed.”
“In view of their leading posts [within the regime], I think Uday and Qusay were more important than any of the other former officials, and were aware of the most inexplicable and confidential information about the toppled regime that ruled the country for three decades. The significance of Saddam’s sons stems from the information they possessed about their father’s highly secretive regime,” said Hariri.
Hariri went on to say, “It is hoped that Saddam will be seized by any means as he is the only one aware of the secrets surrounding the issue of prisoners and the missing, as well as the brainless actions he committed. This is in addition to the reasons behind his attack on Iran, his invasion of Kuwait, and the massacres he committed against the Iraqi people in the north and the south [of Iraq]. The relations between Saddam’s regime and the UN and US, as well as his support for terror groups and many other issues should be revealed.”
Hariri also questions whether the toppled president has any links with the recent wave of attacks on American soldiers, indicating that these attacks are mostly carried out by remnants of Saddam’s Fedayeen and Baathists. “They [the attackers] can also be certain [political] groups that have been having certain problems with the US occupation forces,” he added.
However, Jebouri affirms that there still remains several radical religious movements linked with the overthrown president, suggesting that the death of Uday and Qusay may be avenged in future attacks by these movements. (Albawaba.com)
