Sunnis fear Saddam's execution will provoke sectarian violence

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Jubilant celebrations for Muslims on the final day of the pilgrimage to Mecca were dampened last night by concerns that Saddam Hussein's execution could have further worsened sectarian tensions across the Middle East.

Sunni Muslim Iraqis in Mecca spoke of their fear of returning home, as the World Association of Muslim Youth sent out a stern statement to Shias that they were "a minority in the Arab world''.

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Many Sunnis were already speaking of Saddam in reverential terms as a shaheed or martyr. His supporters insisted it was un-Islamic to kill for the three months of the Haj period. One Sunni at the camp said: "Some Shias are happy about what has happened but we know that America created Saddam Hussein and they have tried to make a big story that he was a Sunni man who wasn't fair to Shias.'' He feared returning to Baghdad following the execution.

"When America invaded Baghdad they said they would make it democratic, but every day there are 200 Sunnis being killed in the city. Do you think now Saddam is dead it will stop?'' he said.

Arifa Akbar in Mecca
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2119077.ece