Reaction: Muslim world: Muslims in many countries were outraged by the execution of the ousted Iraqi president on Saturday, the day observed by Sunnis as Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice.
Speaking a few hours after the hanging, an Iraqi architect who left his country many years ago due to Saddam Hussein's harsh rule said: "They have destroyed the joy of the Eid. Today is a black day for Arabs and Muslims. I spoke to my sister in Baghdad today. She sees no hope for the country."
A Palestinian computer programmer raised in Kuwait who fled after the 1990 Iraqi invasion said: "It is a terrible thing to see any Arab leader - no matter who - hanged. The trial was a farce. The execution is meant to humiliate us, and humiliate us on the holiest day of the year."
The Iraqi blogger known as Riverbend wrote from Baghdad that the hanging "does not bode well for the coming year". She said it was a "sordid lynching".
Iranians, who suffered during the eight-year war with Iraq, and some Kuwaitis, who endured eight months of Iraqi occupation, rejoiced. Libya declared three days of national mourning and cancelled Eid festivities.
Saudi Arabia criticised the conduct of the trial and queried the rush to execution. An official statement castigated the Shia leaders of Iraq. "Leaders of Islamic countries should show respect for this blessed occasion . . . not demean it."
Jordan expressed the hope that the execution would not have "any negative repercussions". A sober Jordanian banker said: "The Americans want to get rid of Saddam because he was the last Arab nationalist leader, the last Arab leader to say no to them. No Arab leader will dare oppose them now."
Many Palestinians were shocked by the execution. During the first US-led war against Iraq in 1991, he was cheered by Palestinians for becoming the first Arab ruler to fire missiles at Tel Aviv. He also provided pensions for the families of those killed during the second intifada.
While there was no unrest in Arab capitals, thousands took part in demonstrations in India and Pakistan and yesterday there were protests in Sunni majority Iraqi provinces.
Arabs and Muslims were initially gratified to see in official television coverage that Saddam went to his death with dignity. But many were outraged by the broadcast on Sunday of a video clip recorded on a mobile phone by a witness to the execution. Someone could be heard taunting Saddam and praising Muhammad Bakr al-Sadr, the founder of the Shia Dawa party which had tried and failed to overthrow Iraq's sectarian governments from 1958 until the US intervened and installed Dawa in power.
Another person called out the name of his nephew, Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric who heads the Mahdi Army militia which is responsible for mass killings and sectarian cleansing of Sunnis. Mahdi Army men were reported to be the hangmen.
In separate statements the Sunni Association and Muslim Scholars and the secular Baath party said the video would widen the gulf between Sunnis and Shias.
Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Baghdad, Hoda Abd al-Hamid, said Sunnis saw the clip as "proof that the security services have been infiltrated by Shia militias, namely the Mahdi Army".
