YOU CAN'T WIN DEPARTMENT:
Arabs Shocked by TV Images of Saddam's Sons
Reuters
Friday, July 25, 2003; 2:17 PM
By Firouz Sedarat
DUBAI (Reuters) - Televised images of the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons shocked many Arabs on Friday, who said it was un-Islamic to exhibit corpses, however much the brothers were loathed.
Arab and international networks showed the bodies identified as Uday and Qusay, laid out at the makeshift airport morgue, their faces partly rebuilt to repair wounds.
"Although Uday and Qusay are criminals, displaying their corpses like this is disgusting and repulsive. America claims it is civilized but is behaving like a thug," Saudi civil servant Saad Brikan, 42, told Reuters in Riyadh.
Another civil servant Hasan Hammoud, 35, said: "America always spoils its own image by doing something like this. What is the advantage of showing these bodies? Didn't they think about the humanitarian aspect? About their mother and the rest of their family when they see these images?"
The brothers died on Tuesday after U.S. forces lay siege to the villa in northern Iraq where they were hiding.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he ordered their bodies to be shown to convince frightened Iraqi's that Saddam's reign was truly over.
But prominent Saudi cleric Mohsen al-Awajy said: "This has been a dirty war from the beginning and it is difficult for us to find any morals or dignity in the middle of this.
"The Americans want to show the Iraqis that they are achieving their goals...There was no need to show the bodies."
He said while under Islam the bodies should be treated with sanctity, Iraqis would not forget that Uday and Qusay had committed vicious crimes against them.
"We shouldn't forget the pain of the Iraqis. These are just two casualties, and it would be better if their graves were kept secret, otherwise the Iraqis will attack their graves."
Mohammad Emara, an Egyptian Islamist scholar, told Al Jazeera television that displaying the bodies publicly was against Islamic Sharia law.
"Under Islamic law this is rejected. America wanted to boost the morale of its soldiers so it resorted to this illegal act which is denounced by all religions.
"America said during its war on Iraq that displaying pictures of its soldiers who were alive was against the Geneva convention so what about pictures showing disfigured bodies?"
He was referring to U.S. soldiers held captive during the war.
SOME KUWAITIS VOICE APPROVAL
A U.S. military official said "facial reconstruction" had been carried out, particularly to the elder son Uday whose face had been more disfigured by his wounds. The retouching was intended to make them more readily identifiable.
In Kuwait, Saddam's arch-enemy over Iraq's 1990-91 occupation of the tiny Gulf state, some people found the video did help convince them the two brothers were dead.
"I'm not sure about Uday but Qusay's pictures were very clear. I'm happy they are dead and that will make it easier for the Americans to restore stability to the country," said Abdullah al-Shimari, a 26-year-old Kuwaiti.
"The videos were very clear and even independent international reporters who have seen the bodies have confirmed it was them. People who have objected to showing the pictures are loyal to the Iraqi regime," said Mohammed al-Rashidi, a 27-year-old Kuwaiti.
But Egyptian analyst Diaa Rashwan said Washington had an uphill battle in winning credibility among Arabs.
"American credibility has been questioned for a long time in the Arab world, as well as other parts of the world. This is making a lot of Arabs doubt the authenticity of what the photos or the video show," Rashwan said.
U.S. officials believe the deaths of Saddam's sons will help staunch attacks on U.S. troops which they blame on his sympathizers and which have already claimed 44 lives.
But Iraqi analysts warn other groups with no loyalty to Saddam may be behind some of the attacks, including Islamic militants and nationalists who resent the takeover of their oil-rich country.
At Friday prayers in Falluja, west of Baghdad, angry Muslims said the bloodshed would go on until the Americans left.
"I don't understand why the Americans say it is the former Baath Party people who are killing their soldiers. All Iraqis want to kill the Americans because of the way they act," said shopkeeper Muhammad Abbas. (Additional reporting by Fahd al-Frayyan in Riyadh, Samia Nakhoul and Andrew Hammond in Dubai, Amil Khan in Cairo and Ahmad Mustafa in Kuwait)
© 2003 Reuters
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