Most people interviewed for their reaction on the death sentence to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain have supported the verdict of the trail court in Baghdad on Sunday.
"However, there was also a section of people, specially from among members of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who felt that the sentence was uncalled for and Saddam Hussain, as president of Iraq, did what he had to do. Many old people, aware of the history of the region, commented since independence, most leaders in Iraq have met a violent end.
It was pointed out that worst form of state control existed in Iraq during the rule of the regent, Abdullah, the regent for King Faisal. When the Iraqi army led by Abdul Karim Qassim overthrew the kingship, the king and the regent were killed and the regent's body was dragged through the streets of Baghdad.
Qassim was eliminated by Abdus Salam Arif as president. Then came the Baath Party and General Hassan Al-Bakr, who was eliminated in a coup within the army led by Saddam Hussain who, in turn, killed all his rivals.
The Iranian reaction was one of happiness. Iran was demanding punishment to Saddam Hussain for crimes committed during the Iran-Iraq war. However, the verdict has come while the USA is in military occupation of Iraq.
While the Muslim world or the Non-Aligned Movement have remained silent on punishing Saddam Hussain for his crimes in the Iran-Iraq war, it is a paradox that Iranians are getting some satisfaction from the verdict through the US-supported regime in Iraq.
In Karachi, many activists of the Fiqah Jafaria welcomed the death sentence and felt that the sentence had come too late.
It may be mentioned here that Saddam Hussain was projected as an Islamic world hero in Pakistan in the 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait by some of the religious parties.
The international reaction to Saddam Hussain's death sentence is still coming in but in Iran and Kuwait the sentence has been celebrated while in Iraq itself in all Kurd and Shia dominated areas the sentence has been welcomed widely.
In the Pakistani legal community, the verdict has caused a controversy. Some legal experts felt that justice was not done while some maintained that proceedings were dragged to benefit the Republicans in the US elections to Senate and the House of Representatives.
Most delegates at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Islamabad were not readily available to comment on the sentence. An African Muslim country delegate on condition of anonymity said: "We are here for economic issues and not political ones."
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