A tomb in a mosque near Tikrit - which will become a shrine for some
AWJA, Iraq -- Pledging revenge, hundreds of mourners flocked to Saddam Hussein's tomb in his home village in northern Iraq on Sunday, where the ousted leader was buried in private after being hanged for crimes against humanity.
In an outpouring of grief and anger from Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs at the Shia-led government that rushed through the execution, mourners knelt and prayed by the tomb in Awja over which the Iraqi flag had been draped.
Sectarian passions that have pushed Iraq toward civil war since US troops overthrew Saddam in 2003 could be further inflamed by a video posted on the internet showing Shia officials taunting him as he stood on the gallows on Saturday.
"The Persians have killed him. I can't believe it. By God, we will take revenge," said a man from the northern city of Mosul, using a term employed by some Sunnis to describe Shia Arabs, who share their faith with non-Arab, Persian-speaking Iran.
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In an outpouring of grief and anger from Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs at the Shia-led government that rushed through the execution, mourners knelt and prayed by the tomb in Awja over which the Iraqi flag had been draped.
Sectarian passions that have pushed Iraq toward civil war since US troops overthrew Saddam in 2003 could be further inflamed by a video posted on the internet showing Shia officials taunting him as he stood on the gallows on Saturday.
"The Persians have killed him. I can't believe it. By God, we will take revenge," said a man from the northern city of Mosul, using a term employed by some Sunnis to describe Shia Arabs, who share their faith with non-Arab, Persian-speaking Iran.