Saddam was one of mankind's greatest burdens created by the Western Masters - an age-old practice. Now that there is nothing that can be used to justify his misbegotten adventure and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents, Iraq's current Master in Washington has decided to kill one more. The speed and the timing of this most uncivilised act of the human history surely demonstrated the demoniac character and sinister motives of the self-proclaimed Decider and his cohorts in Washington, London and Jerusalem.

Few will miss Saddam who was better than Stalin or Hitler only in statistics. But he will be remembered for the trials he did not get the opportunity to face: chemical attack on Kurdish villages, or in the war with Iran.

No surprise. America supplied him ingredients of biological weapons. Britain gave biological weapon factory's machinery. Germany gave chemicals for making bombs. All these would have to be brought to evidence in a trial for his war crimes. So he had to go through the motion of facing a lesser charge, that of killing 148 Shiites in the town of Dujail in 1982, and was quickly disposed off. He took the evidences against his masters with him to the grave.
Ashish Ahsan, Baridhara DOHS, Dhaka

Bush Jr's Kangaroo Court verdict that hanged Saddam, the late former president of Iraq on the Eid-ul-Azha day & precisely at the time when the Muslim morning call for prayer was being sounded over Baghdad & rest of the Arab world, appears to be a clear & defying message to the whole of the Muslim world what the Crusaders can do to them as and when they wish. Watch out.
Ashley Cooper, Khulshi, Chittagong

At last the much-talked about leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was executed by hanging on December 30, 2006. The death of Saddam may be something to celebrate for George Bush as he had a grudge against Saddam but the event has left a barrage of questions. It may be true that Saddam has been hanged through a trial but what is the basis of neutrality of the trial? The trial was conducted with the intention to hang Saddam. The former president was not given enough chance to represent himself. On many occasions he was shown the door at the trial. Saddam was denied legal assistance and his counsels were killed on a number of occasions.

It is true that everyone is equal before the law and in order to establish the rule of law this proposition has to be enforced. Therefore, if Saddam is guilty of massacre he should have been brought to book but that should have been through an unbiased trial. There are question marks over the procedures of the trial. Even the European Union (EU) did not accept the trial.

As expected, both the US and the UK have welcomed the execution but they themselves have unveiled their real face. The US is maintaining a double standard. They are shouting for human rights but are the masters in violating human rights. On the incidents of crossfire by Rab the US is expressing its anxiousness terming them as extra judicial killing. How are they going to label the execution of Saddam through an unfair trial? They are also opposing the capital punishment but with Saddam they were over enthusiastic about hanging the ousted leader! The motive of the US behind conquering Iraq was simply its oil and other natural sources. The allegations of weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's link with al-Qaeda have already been proven false.

The US in its mission to conquer the Middle East alongside Israel has advanced a bit through the death of Saddam. It could be argued that post-Saddam Iraq would be more violence ridden and there would be more bloodshed. The only way to bring peace in Iraq is the withdrawal of US led coalition troops.

Therefore it is very much clear that Saddam Hussein has been murdered. The incident of his execution is also a lesson for the other leaders of the world. When Saddam invaded Kuwait on 1990, did he imagine what was waiting for him after 16 years! We never know what may happen after 16 years from now. We may have to witness the same with the most powerful man in the world today -- Mr. Bush.

We have to wait and see how world leaders learn from Iraq.
Moinul Alam, Eskaton Garden Road, Dhaka