Saddam hogs headlines, in death too

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

The grim end of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was given prominent coverage by the major regional dailies of the country. On the day Saddam was hanged, almost all newspapers published front-page reports on the likelihood of his execution, after the Iraqi High Tribunal upheld the death sentence. A day after the execution, most dailies dedicated more than half of the space on their front pages to the news, with blown up photographs of the executors tying a rope around Saddam's neck.

Hindi papers in the north had a mixed reaction to the event.

Dainik Jagran devoted its entire International page to worldwide protests against the execution, reports of violence in Baghdad as well as a write-up on the Iraqi dictator's slide from glory to doom. It also carried a family portrait from his heyday. In an opinion piece, the paper argued against sympathising with Saddam. Criticising the US for the botched trial process was fine, but let us not throw out the baby with the bath water, the column argued. Which of our political parties would accept a Saddam-type dictator in our backyard, it asked, adding that the tendency to portray him as a "saviour of Muslims" must be resisted.

Punjab Kesari drew attention to the ongoing investigation by the Iraqi government into the video-capture of Saddam's final moments. Within hours of the incident, the two-and-a-half minute video found its way to global television news networks and websites like YouTube, provoking outrage in the Iraqi Sunni community.

In Andhra Pradesh, with headlines such as "Saddam hanged", "Saddam executed" and "End of Saddam's era", leading Telugu newspapers Eenadu, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothi dedicated more than half of the space on their Sunday front pages to the news. The newspapers also carried more than half-a-dozen stories on the protests against Saddam's execution in their inside pages.

Terming the incident as a vengeful move and against international laws, Andhra Jyothi, in its edit "A dictator's martyrdom", gave a chronicle of events that took place during Saddam's regime. "Will the internal sectarian war in Iraq come to a standstill with the execution of Saddam?" the newspaper questioned.

The execution also received extensive coverage in the Kannada press. Most newspapers carried detailed reports on Saddam's life. A couple of newspapers even had photo features of Saddam's long reign as Iraq's president.

All the leading dailies condemned the manner in which Saddam was brought to trial and executed. Market leader Vijaya Karnataka argued for a fair trial in its edit: "No doubt Saddam had committed heinous crimes. But what about the trial that was conducted to implicate him? It is most unfortunate that no other nation questioned the US invasion of Iraq and the subsequent civil war in that nation."

Praja Vani, in its edit, termed the execution an uncivilised act. "His execution was a foregone conclusion even before the trial commenced. The developments indicate that the US can get away with anything. This is the time for emerging economies to unite and counter the unquestioned actions of the US," the editorial said.

Tamil daily Dinamalar dedicated four pages to reports on Saddam's execution, including reactions from heads of different countries as well as those of political parties in India, including the Left's condemnation. Reports also included Saddam's daughter asking for Saddam's body to be buried in Yemen, along with a couple of photographs showing celebrations in the US.