Even as Iraqis and Middle East leaders, along with their networks – Abu-Dhabi, Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Manar – celebrated the capture of Saddam Hussein, most everyone else felt confused and conflicted.
In the words of a Reuters dispatch, "Arabs Have Mixed Emotions About Saddam Capture." They were pleased about the arrest of the dictator but regretted that a leading anti-American figure was now in the hands of those Americans. They especially regretted that this capture would boost President Bush and enhance his electoral prospects. "It is happy news but we wish it were the Iraqi people who had captured him, not U.S. troops, because this will give Bush a boost in the upcoming election," said a Bahraini. To which added a Syrian, "I don't like Saddam but as an Arab I wouldn't like to see them (Americans) dragging him around Baghdad."
Michael Widlanski reports that the broadcast media of the Palestinian Authority, traditionally very friendly to Saddam, "tried to ignore the news," not reporting on it for several hours treating. When it finally did acknowledge that something was happening, it did so as "a marginal news item attributed to rumors linked to a scheduled American press conference in Iraq." The broadcasts presented this news only as the fourth news item; there was no mention of celebrating Iraqi crowds. "Saddam is a dictator and the Iraqi people suffered under him, but on the other hand, it was the (American) occupation that caught him," Mohammed Horani, a legislator with the Palestinian Parliament, said in the Gaza Strip. "There will be a sense of confusion in the public."
"Of course, it's bad news. To us, Saddam was a symbol of defiance to the U.S. plans in the region. And we support any person who stands in the face of the American dominance," said Azzam Hneidi, an Islamist member of Jordan's parliament. "It's a black day in history. I am saying so not because Saddam is an Arab but because he is the only man who said 'no' to American injustice in the Middle East," said a Palestinian in Ramallah.
A resident of Damascus: "This is a great day for the Iraqi people, and I share their happiness. Saddam is a dictator and this should be the fate of all dictators. But he regretted that Saddam should meet his fate at the hands of the Americans, who "cared nothing about the Iraqi people."
And many were not in these least conflicted: London's Daily Telegraph reports that, in a popularity contest sponsored by a Dubai-based television station, the Middle East Broadcasting Centre, "Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein have been nominated for the title of the 'greatest Arab' of all time." (December 14, 2003)
