All quiet on Saddam anniversary
One year after Saddam, levels of violence are falling
Sunday, 30, Dec 2007 08:07
Iraq escaped a feared major terrorist incident on the first anniversary of the execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
The leader was hanged to death in a widely criticised execution which many feared would spark intensified levels of violence in the unstable Middle Eastern country.
Although sectarian killings spiked in the months after Saddam's death, US president George Bush's much-publicised 'troop surge' helped lower violence by the winter of 2007.
Coalition forces' 'awakening councils' also saw many previously Saddam-supporting Sunni tribes join forces against Islamist al-Qaida elements in the country.
Today in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit posters appeared featuring slogans supporting the dictator, while groups gathered at his grave in nearby Awja.
But there were no major terrorist bombings or violent incidents believed to be connected with the anniversary of the botched execution. Footage was released in the aftermath of Saddam's death showing Shia officials taunting him on the gallows.
Yesterday coalition forces killed six terrorists and detained 14 terror suspects in the Diyala river valley, where an ongoing operation is underway under al-Qaida elements.