'If History Can Take Me Back, I Will Kiss the Statue of Saddam Which I Helped Pull Down'

April 31, 2008
'If History Can Take Me Back, I Will Kiss the Statue of Saddam Which I Helped Pull Down'

BAGHDAD, 10 April 2008 — Ibrahim Khalil, who five years ago took part in the toppling of a giant statue of Saddam Hussein in central Baghdad, said yesterday he now regrets taking part in the hugely symbolic event.

"If history can take me back, I will kiss the statue of Saddam Hussein which I helped pull down," Khalil said on the fifth anniversary of the statue's toppling. "I will protect the statue more than my own self," Khalil said in Firdos Square alongside a monument erected where Saddam's statue once stood before US Marines and Iraqis strung a chain around its neck and brought it crashing down.

Guantanamo inmates shown Saddam hanging photos

February 1, 2007
Guantanamo inmates shown Saddam hanging photos

In an attempt to intimidate inmates, the lead American lawyer for Australian detainee David Hicks said, pictures of Saddam's trial were also shown to detainees, along with articles about executions carried out by extremists.

"Displaying photos of condemned men to those who may be facing capital charges can only be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and compel submission under a threat of death and mentally torture an already abused detainee population," Joshua Dratel said in a statement to media in Australia.