Saddam's end evokes anger and sadness in Sri Lanka

BY AMEEN IZZADEEN 2 January 2007 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.