Fears are growing that the execution will intensify sectarian violence in Iraq. Video recorded on a cellphone showed that the Shiite guards taunted Hussein in his final moments. The masked hangmen chanted the name of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. As the rope was put around Hussein’s neck, somebody shouted, “Long live Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr!” The execution occurred on the first day that Sunnis celebrated the religious festival Eid. For Shiites the holiday didn’t begin until Sunday. Saddam Hussein’s last words were: “Down with the traitors, the Americans, the spies and the Persians.” Hussein’s defense team criticized the rush to execute the former president.

Attorney Issam Ghazzawi: “It is one of the sad days in the Arab world and Muslim world because an occupier executed a president of an Arab and Muslim country unfairly and without a trial. You saw something, but it is not a trial.”