Associated Press

April 16, 2003 Wednesday

HEADLINE: Saddam Loyalists Honor Him at Birthplace

BYLINE: BORZOU DARAGAHI; Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: UJA, Iraq

BODY:
While Saddam Hussein's statues and pictures have been destroyed in cities across Iraq, in this village of airy mansions, manicured lawns and flowerbeds overlooking the Tigris River the fallen leader remains a favorite son.

His likeness abounds. Saddam in a white suit. In a blue suit. In a black suit. In white military uniform. In black military uniform. On horseback. Holding a teacup. Waving a pistol.

While the rest of the nation starved, people in Uja - Saddam's birthplace - prospered, and many are quick to show their gratitude even with the old regime now in tatters.

"He gave us a good life," said Yassin Badr, a businessman. "We will celebrate his birthday on April 28, just as we do every year."

The portraits and monuments to Saddam that proudly line the leafy avenues of Uja, six miles south of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, demonstrate how strong a hold the former Iraqi leader still has on many of his fellow Sunni Muslims.

Under Saddam's rule, Sunni tribesmen who once made a precarious living herding sheep became members of the ruling elite, lording over the majority Shiites.

Blood ties are paramount in Iraqi society, and Saddam - known nearly as much for his extravagant generosity as for his boundless cruelty - lavished family and friends in Uja with the nation's oil wealth.

Year after year, Saddam visited Uja on his birthday, soaking up adulation.

On Tuesday, Maj. Byron Harper, a Marine based at Camp Pendleton , Calif. , led his team on searches through the stately homes of Uja, which have now been abandoned.

One mansion, adorned with photographs of Saddam Hussein and his half brother Watban Ibrahim Hasan, who was captured in northern Iraq on Sunday, was scoured for weapons by the Marines. They found ammunition and a silencer.

Going through intimate quarters at will, the Marines trampled over photographs of Saddam and his relatives. They overturned mattresses and rifled through dresser drawers.

Not everybody in Uja remains under Saddam's thrall. Down the road from the mansions, a gaggle of residents, mostly drivers and servants, expressed calm satisfaction at Saddam's downfall.

They suggested they would love to deface one of Saddam's many portraits - but were too afraid.

"This man Saddam is already finished," said Jamal Fayel, a taxi driver who lived in a tiny two-room home. "But there are still many pro-Saddam people here. No one wants to provoke them."

Many Tikrit and Uja residents fled before the war began, and they have begun trickling back over the past couple of days.

On the main bridge leading west across the Tigris to Tikrit and Uja, many people expressed anger at being subjected to the Americans' stringent searches as they entered town.

"We were comfortable under Saddam Hussein," said Omar Rahim, a teacher. "We had much better living conditions under him."

But among those returning to Uja, some expressed support for the American presence.

"He's a criminal," said Sheik Jabber Daham, a former member of the National Assembly and a school superintendent.