New Zealand Iraqis rejoice at feared dictator's capture

By SCOTT MacLEOD


Munjid Umara has slept with a radio crackling by his side since the war on Iraq began, waiting for that special piece of news.

It came about midnight on Sunday, jolting him from his sleep, sending him scurrying around his Glenfield home to wake his wife and children.

Saddam Hussein was in American hands.

Throughout New Zealand, many of the 3000 Iraqis living here were woken by news reports or phone calls from relatives as far away as Europe.

They watched grainy pictures of a doctor jamming a wooden stick in the feared dictator's mouth after he had been dragged from his hiding-hole south of Tikrit.

"They captured the most brutal dictator in the world, but I didn't believe it until I saw him on TV as a miserable, dirty criminal," Dr Umara, 68, said.

"We feel history is closed now, finished."

In East Tamaki, Eman Al-Atroushi was yesterday enjoying the happiest day of her life.

Mrs Atroushi, 46, had been up until the early morning watching three televisions tuned to different channels. She phoned her uncle in Iraq, who said the family had been shooting guns joyously into the sky.

The best part was when US administrator Paul Bremer said: "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."

There was a moment of silence in Mrs Atroushi's home when footage showed Saddam "pulled out like a rat, filthy". The dictator looked "shocking, a coward man who couldn't even put a bullet in his head".

For Mrs Atroushi, Saddam was a symbol of fear and power.

Living in New Zealand had made her see that a country poor in resources like oil could live in peace. Her homeland was torn by troubles despite its oil riches.

"We want Saddam to be alive so he can be judged and humiliated by the people," she said.

In Manurewa, Wasfi Al-Bayati was woken by a phone call from a brother in Germany. He stayed up until 5am yesterday watching the news.

Later he spoke of the many nightmares in which he was killed by Saddam.

"Even in New Zealand I dream that Saddam Hussein is killing me. He is everywhere."

Mr Al-Bayati, 37, fled Iraq because Saddam wanted him to work on "killing machines". An uncle, a brother and many friends had already died under his rule.

"Saddam Hussein is like a rat. I want the Iraqi people to judge him and kill him. He must be killed as an example."

Herald Feature: Iraq