Sunni website claims al-Sadr one of the masked men who put the noose around Saddam (*warning pic*)

[sabra]

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/559/Rumors_about_Saddams_Executioners

Rumors about Saddam's Executioners
Al Jazeera says it was Shia Militia. Website: It was Muqtada

Al Jazeera has claimed that an Iraqi official who did not want to be identified has told it that an Iraqi militia (presumably Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army) replaced all the security officials responsible for executing Saddam with its own militiamen. Meanwhile the Sunni pro-Baathist website Iraqi Rabita has claimed that one of the masked men who put the noose around Saddam’s neck was in fact Muqtada al Sadr. The website posted photos from the execution film and pointed to the man they suspected was Muqtada. They compared the masked man’s facial hair (what was visible) and his ring, with those of Muqtada. They claimed this was why the onlookers were chanting for Muqtada.

http://www.iraqirabita.org/index3.php?do=article&id=6782

[ck4829]

1. That would explain the chanting of his name

[helderheid]

8. I was JUST thinking the same thing....

[BattyDem]

2. Iraq is going to explode in violence ... it'll be worse than ever

Get our troops out of there ... NOW!

[Beetwasher]

6. Yeah, Once This Spreads, We Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet

n/t

[Beetwasher]

3. Hardly Conclusive Evidence, But It Wouldn't Surprise Me One Bit

n/t

[GuvWurld]

37. What is the Arabic phrase for "conspiracy theory"?

:sarcasm:

[tanyev]

4. Oh, my.

:wow:

[treestar]

5. Are Saddam's doubles all accounted for?

Seriously.

[Richard Steele]

35. Accounted for? More like it's illegal to mention they even EXIST.

The WWW tubes seem to heve been SCRUBBED CLEAN
of any mention of Saddam's stand-ins.

Never mind that their existence was NEVER a secret;
forget about the German TV station who used state-of-the-art
facial-recognition software to review 400 Saddam clips,
and concluded that the REAL Saddam Hussein had not appeared on film
ANYWHERE for quite awhile before we invaded...

[Poll_Blind]

7. Hoo-boy! Tune into Channel Real: All weird, ALL THE TIME. n/t

  Since 2000, fiction is really dead. But as weird as this world gets, there seems to be a Lovecraftian vortex of weird sitting over Baghdad for years now.

PB

[AzDar]

9. Didn't Saddam also repeat "Muqtada al-Sadr" in a mocking tone?

Jeebus.

[Poll_Blind]

12. Maybe it was...recognition. (?) n/t

PB

[AzDar]

14. That would make it a bona -fide lynching, imnsho.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

13. I didn't hear that in any of the footage I saw

To be honest, Saddam looked very scared and shocked. I didn't see him utter anything other than single word answers to questions put to him by his executioners.

[sabra]

15. transcript from popular Iraqi blog

http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_healingiraq_archive.html#116747600962651269

Saddam (as the noose is put around his neck): Ya Allah (Oh God).
Someone in the audience: Mercy be on those who pray for Mohammed and the household of Muhammed (Everyone repeats the prayer, including Saddam) -
Executioner and two people in the audience: ... And hasten his return (the Mahdi), curse his enemy and grant victory to his son, Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada! (This is a common Sadrist chant.)
Saddam (smirking): Muqtada? Is this your manhood? (unclear)
NSA Muwafaq Al-Rubai'i: To Hell!
Saddam: (laughing) ... and disgrace to you. (unintelligible)
Prosecutor Munqidh Al-Far'awn: Please, no.
Muwafaq Al-Rubai'i: Longlive Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr!
Someone in the audience: To Hell!
Prosecutor Munqidh Al-Far'awn: No. Please, no. I beg you. The man is in an execution.
Saddam (solemnly recites the Shahada prayer): I witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammed is the messenger of Allah. I witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammed is the-- (trap door is opened).
Audience (in unison): Prayers for Mohammed and the household of Muhammed.
Someone: The tyrant has fell. May Allah's curse be upon him.
Someone: May Allah's curse be upon him.
(commotion in the hall)
Someone: No. No. Stay back.
Someone: Leave him for 8 minutes, boys. Don't take him down.
Someone: Everyone. Stay back. Everyone. Back.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

20. I didn't see Saddam say that many words

but the video was cut off at least 15-20 seconds before the trap doors open.

[sabra]

21. I see, then you have not seen the "leaked" unedited version?

[EvolveOrConvolve]

24. The full version I saw was really grainy - probably shot from a camera phone.

[sabra]

18. Iraq NSA al-Rubaie, who was present, was once the spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party.

The same Dawa party that Muhammad Baqr al-Sadr started...

[EvolveOrConvolve]

22. I'm confused about arabic naming conventions

but is Muhammad Baqr al-Sadr the same person as Muqtada al-Sadr?

[sabra]

26. father, who many say was killed by Saddam

[EvolveOrConvolve]

29. Which is the surname, and why did Saddam have a different one?

[sabra]

31. it might be time to use Bush's favorite thing on the Internets... The Google

[Original Jack]

28. The former was father to the latter, I believe

The former was killed in a shooting, presumably by Saddam'sw men.

[Original Jack]

30. You should die with such composure

... and I as well

[EvolveOrConvolve]

33. I hope to go peacefully in my sleep

not at the end of a hangman's noose. It's easy to say I would be as composed as Saddam, but I won't. I would have the screaming heeby-jeebies and probably let loose in my pants if I was about to be hung.

[Original Jack]

40. What you hope?

We all hope for the best, I guess.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

43. Of course we do

We hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

[Warren Stupidity]

23. No.

Riverbend debunked this. What he said was, if I remember correctly, something that translated as 'is that your manhood?'.

[Original Jack]

36. Saddam did, in fact say, "Moqtada"

It's right there in the video.

It sounded mocking to me, but you be the judge:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7532034279766935521

It's at 1:01 into the video

[Warren Stupidity]

45. Riverbend - I'll go with her translation.

"From the video that was leaked, it was not an executioner who yelled "long live Muqtada al-Sadr". See, this is another low the Maliki government sunk to- they had some hecklers conveniently standing by during the execution. Maliki claimed they were "some witnesses from the trial", but they were, very obviously, hecklers. The moment the noose was around Saddam's neck, they began chanting, in unison, "God's prayers be on Mohamed and on Mohamed's family…" Something else I didn't quite catch (but it was very coordinated), and then "Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada!" One of them called out to Saddam, "Go to hell…" (in Arabic). Saddam looked down disdainfully and answered "Heya hay il marjala…?" which is basically saying, "Is this your manhood…?".

Someone half-heartedly called out to the hecklers, "I beg you, I beg you- the man is being executed!" They were slightly quieter and then Saddam stood and said, "Ashadu an la ilaha ila Allah, wa ashhadu ana Mohammedun rasool Allah…" Which means, "I witness there is no god but Allah and that Mohammed is His messenger." These are the words a Muslim (Sunnis and Shia alike) should say on their deathbed. He repeated this one more time, very clearly, but before he could finish it, he was lynched.

So, no, CNN, his last words were not "Muqtada Al Sadr" in a mocking tone- just thought someone should clear that up. (Really people, six of you contributed to that article!)

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#116738820591750213

[helderheid]

47. thanks for this

[Cooley Hurd]

48. Juan Cole has a different take of what Saddam meant by the...

"manhood" comment:

http://www.juancole.com/2007/01/apocalypse-ii-in-samarra-us-kills-6-at.html

<snip>
There was also a demonstration in the northern Baghdad district of Adhamiya, at which protesters shouted condemnations of Muqtada al-Sadr, according to al-Zaman. Some of those present at Saddam's execution shouted "Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada!" Saddam mocked them, asking if this was their sign of manliness. (Personally, I believe this is Saddam's reference to rumors in Iraq that Muqtada's wife left him, saying that he is actually gay. He is saying that chanting Muqtada's name is a sign that they are also not real men.)
</snip>

[Warren Stupidity]

51. I think that is pretty much in line with riverbend's report. nt.

[SlowDownFast]

44. yep. was the last thing he said...

it was just "Muqtada.." in a sarcastic tone.

[dogday]

10. On to the Greatest with you! nt

[EvolveOrConvolve]

11. It did seem odd that nearly everyone involved was masked

It wouldn't surprise me at all, but we'll never know for sure.

[phusion]

49. Are you kidding?

Of course they were masked...If their faces had shown up while they were tying the noose around Saddam's neck, they'd be dead meat!

[DearAbby]

16. The whole thing appeared like a lynching

and with this? How can we have let this happen? Are they trying to incite a Civil War?

I said it many times over the last few months, * doesn't want to win the war, he just wants one. War the best distraction to steal everything that isn't red hot.

We need a "I dont fucking believe it smiley"

[IndyOp]

17. THIS is your manhood - killing me? That is what Hussein was saying?

Was killing Hussein Al Sadr manhood -- his way of "paying dues" to gain power?

That would make sense.

[helderheid]

25. With English Subtitle - full video (WARNING -- GRAPHIC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYt2Odl5sTA&eurl=

[Warren Stupidity]

27. No I think it was more like

'this is how brave you act when you have a bound captive that you are executing', it was sarcasm.

[trumad]

19. I wouldn't doubt this for a minute: Saddam killed his Dad,

He was killed in the Iraqi city of Najaf along with two of his sons as they drove through the town. Their car was ambushed by men, and all three occupants of the car were killed by gunfire. Popular opinion among Shi'as in Iraq, as well as some international observers, holds that the Iraqi government was implicated if not directly responsible. When Iraqis confronted former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein shortly after his capture by United States forces, he joked about getting Mohammad al-Sadr off his chest (Sadr means "chest" in Arabic).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mohammad_Sadeq_al-Sadr

[ripple]

41. Wow, interesting info. Thanks! n/t

[originalpckelly]

32. Oh holy shit! How did they get in there?

:shrug:

This is going to be bad, very bad indeed.

[bananas]

34. a witness says one of the masked men was indeed Moqtada Al Sadr

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/did_moqtada_al_sadr_take_part.php

Did Moqtada Al Sadr take part in the actual hanging of Saddam Hussein?
By Olivier Guitta

According to the Saudi daily Al Riyad, citing a witness to the execution of Hussein, one of the masked men was indeed Moqtada Al Sadr. Knowing that Saddam Hussein had Moqtada's father killed, this would not be surprising. In fact the son would want to take part in taking revenge. But if this turns out to be true, this would be another major faux pas for Iraqi authorities.

In fact Moqtada's militia has not only targeted coalition troops but also Sunnis, including mostly civilians. This event could further the gap between Sunnis and Shias around the world especially in Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Incidentally a famous Saudi ulema (high religious personality) Sheikh Abdelrahman Al Barak just issued a fatwa calling Shias "kuffars" (infidels) and Shiism "the worst religion". He added that Sunnism and Shiism are two irreconcilable religions". In light of rumors of Saudi involvement in helping their Sunni brothers in Iraq, these latest events should be taken quite seriously.

January 3, 2007 05:20 PM

[ContraBass Black]

38. I find that very hard to believe, but if so,

It would be a disaster.

[originalpckelly]

42. Problem is, that in the Middle East, it doesn't matter if it is true...

many treat fiction as fact. News abounds with conspiracy theories. This is just not good, and quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised.

[LSK]

39. so this is how we invite him into the political process???

:shrug:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

46. The Circumstantial Evidence Is Immensely Flimsy,

Yet logically and on gut feeling I still think it's in fact quite likely what occurred.

[helderheid]

50. ..

[helderheid]

52. sat kick