Reaction to Saddam's execution less than expected in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — As state-sponsored news channels saturated Iraqi airways with images of the noose going around Saddam Hussein's neck early Saturday, residents here offered a surprisingly muted response.

The celebratory crowds were smaller than when the dictator surrendered to U.S. forces three years ago. And the expected promises of reprisal attacks did not come as they did when the trial charging him with crimes against humanity began 14 months ago. Even in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, the rallying around the hometown hero was comparatively barren.

While many here said they were thrilled Saddam had been punished, they also said they did not believe his death would lead to immediate change in their lives, saying that Saddam became largely irrelevant three years ago when American forces found him hiding in a bunker near his hometown.

"Executing Saddam will not change anything because we have many Saddams still," said Mohammed Latif, 35, a day worker from Baghdad, referring to Iraq's current government.

Although state-run TV sought to dramatize the event by airing the hanging video and grainy reels documenting years of torture by Saddam, many Iraqis said the death of the man who personified Iraq's past would do little to rid Iraq of the problems it faces: sectarianism, ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods and towns, and a lack of services.

Government leaders sought to tell a different story, saying Saddam's trip to the gallows should become a turning point in Iraq's strife. Referring to leaders of the Sunni insurgency, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, "Saddam's execution puts an end to all their pathetic gambles on a return to dictatorship."

Iraqi officials responded to criticism that they unnecessarily rushed Saddam's death, saying they faced pressure from the world community to spare his life, which they resented.

Throughout the nation, larger crowds could be found in the more homogenous cities. In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, police and residents danced side by side, chanting and singing in the middle of the streets. In Tikrit, a mostly Sunni city, angry crowds blocked main roads.

But in communities immersed in civil strife, there was little response. In Baghdad, residents largely celebrated inside their homes or among friends at coffee shops. In the northeast city of Baqouba, one of Iraq's most ethnically diverse, only police vehicles aimed at stopping retaliatory violence filled the streets.