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Saddam sons funeral inflames resentment Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/6448355.htmhttp://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/6448355.htm
Posted on Sun, Aug. 03, 2003
Funeral for Saddam's sons inflames anti-U.S. resentment
3 U.S. SOLDIERS WOUNDED BY EXPLOSIVES IN NEARBY TOWN
By Dexter Filkins
New York Times
AL-UJA, Iraq -- The sons of Saddam Hussein were buried Saturday in their hometown, 11 days after they were killed by U.S. soldiers. The funeral touched off an outpouring of nostalgia for their fugitive father and was filled with angry calls to rid Iraq of its U.S. occupiers.
Coming out of seclusion, more than 100 members of Saddam's family gathered in a parched cemetery and laid the bodies of Uday and Qusay side by side, and then, to conclude an emotional ceremony, buried a third relative killed in the July 22 U.S. raid, Qusay's 14-year-old son, Mustafa.
A group of U.S. soldiers kept watch at first, then slipped away.
The mourners, many of whom thrived under Saddam's brutal rule, asked God to judge Uday and Qusay as heroes killed in a glorious battle against a foreign invader, and draped each grave with an Iraqi flag.
``Oh God, welcome Uday and Qusay as martyrs on the day of judgment,'' a man intoned as the bodies were lowered into the ground. ``Give them a soft place to rest in the earth, open the grave wider for them and let each become your son.''
The end of the ceremony, attended by as many as 200 people in all, set off a frenzy. Family and friends seemed to stop mourning the passing of the sons as they began chanting for the return of the father.
``Our blood, our souls, we'll sacrifice for Saddam!'' the crowd roared, repeating the line.
When friends and family lined up in a traditional prayer to mark the end of the funeral, one of the mourners rose from his knees and exploded in anger, jabbing his finger at a small number of Americans standing by.
``Death to America!'' he shouted, with murmurs of assent behind him. ``Death to America!''
Later Saturday, three American soldiers were wounded when two improvised explosive devices were detonated as their vehicles were driving through Tikrit, a military official said. Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said it was possible that the attacks were connected to the burials of the brothers in nearby Al-Uja.
Saturday in Baghdad, the U.S. civil administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, said the informant who told American soldiers where to find Saddam's sons has been relocated to another country. Thursday, the State Department announced that the informant, who has not been identified, would be paid the $30 million bounty promised by the U.S. government for information leading to the capture or death of the sons.
Seeking to elicit information on Saddam's whereabouts, Bremer dangled the prospect of a rich life in a foreign country for the person who leads U.S. forces to the fugitive former president. ``We're going to get Saddam, too,'' he said.
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The Washington Post contributed to this report.
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