Iraqis in Finland generally support Saddam execution
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Despite the generally cool worldwide response to the execution of Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis living in Finland, who had fled the dictator's Ba'athist regime, have expressed satisfaction with the execution.
"Iraqis have been calling and sending congratulatory text messages to each other. This is good news for thousands of Iraqis who have suffered under Saddam", says writer Yousif Abu al-Fawz, who lives in Kerava, north of Helsinki.
While he is opposed to the death penalty in principle, he sees Saddam as a special case. "He sent thousands and thousands of people to their deaths. However, I hope that we can build a new Iraq, where people can live in peace, and where there is no death penalty."
Fawz's wife, Iraqi Kurd Fatema Risan , is also satisfied. Risan's father was killed in 1988, when Saddam's government carried out a chemical attack on the Kurdish city of Halabaja.
"Today is the first time that I have felt joy that someone had died", said Risan, who works as a nurse. "I never felt safe as a child. I never had a truly happy childhood."
There are about 3,000 Iraqi citizens living in Finland, as well as a number of Iraqi-born Finnish citizens. Many of them fled their country under Saddam's rule.
"Iraqis are very happy [over the execution], and I am too. I have a long history with Saddam. I was a political prisoner in Abu Ghraib for eight years", says Turku resident Riadh Muthana.
"As an Iraqi Kurd this is joyous news. Saddam's supporters have been inciting unrest until now, hoping to get Saddam back in this way. Now they can no longer hope to achieve this", said another Turku resident, Dlovan Muhammed.
Some did not agree, such as 21-year-old Ahmed al-Chibibi, who said that the death penalty is never right.
"Saddam should have been given a life sentence, so that he would have to think about what he has done", said the young business student. Three of Chibibi's uncles were killed under Saddam, and his father was tortured.
His family fled Iraq when Chibibi was four years old.
In his view, it would be more important in Iraq to concentrate on issues such as making it possible for children to go to school, and to ensure the general availability of water and electricity.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 2.1.2007 - TODAY |
 Iraqis in Finland generally support Saddam execution
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