Saddam’s end evokes anger and sadness in Sri Lanka

WHEN the advisors of former US President Franklin D Roosevelt discussed the human rights situation in Nicaragua under the pro-American dictator Anastasio Somoza, Roosevelt is reported to have said, 'Somoza may be a son of a b----, but he’s our son of a b----.'

A friend who called me on Saturday morning moments after the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hanged said that Saddam Hussein was certainly an SoB, but he is still “our SoB”. The anger and sadness were pervasive across Sri Lanka. Not only Sri Lanka’s 8.5 per cent Muslim population, but also almost all Sri Lankans condemned the execution. The Eid-ul-Adha festival which was celebrated here on Sunday was sans its usual happiness and joy. The main topic at every gathering was the execution of Saddam Hussein. Many agree that he died a real hero. There were others, who, however, recalled the reign of terror under Saddam Hussein. Yet they condemned the execution.

Saddam will be remembered in Sri Lanka as a friend. During his reign, Iraq was the largest buyer of Sri Lankan tea. When the United States and other western nations manipulated the United Nations and imposed sanctions on Iraq, Sri Lanka in spirit stood by Iraq and our country benefited from the UN-approved oil-for-food scheme because tea was among the items allowed under this programme. Sri Lanka is one of 32 countries with which Iraq had signed bilateral trade agreements —and fulfilling a promise we made at the Madrid donor conference in October, 2003, we donated 100 tons of tea to Iraq.

The government reacted only a day after the execution, after a newspaper on Sunday questioned its silence, though politicians of all hues condemned it. The Foreign Ministry in a statement on Sunday said, “We are dismayed at the execution of former President Saddam Hussein, which was carried out on Eid-ul-Adha festival day. While regretting this unfortunate turn of events, we fervently hope that this will not affect negatively the process of restoring peace and normalcy in Iraq.”

The statement was probably more a reaction to the angry mood across Sri Lanka than a condemnation. After all, a developing country like Sri Lanka has to be very careful not to anger the powers that be in the international arena. In Sri Lanka, Saddam had been very popular. During the first Gulf War, graffiti on the walls of Colombo hailed him as a leader who stood up to the might of the United States, though many in Sri Lanka —Muslims and non-Muslims —did not approve of his invasion of Kuwait. Several Muslim parents have named their new born sons after the former Iraqi leader.

There is also a village called Saddam Hussein Nagar in eastern Sri Lanka. The village, containing a hundred houses, a school and a mosque, was built largely from the aid the former Iraqi leader had sent to the flood victims of 1978. The grateful villagers were sad when Saddam was ousted in April 2003. They were Saddam’s Fedayeens here. They view the events that unfolded in Iraq as US high-handedness and dictatorship.