Saddam Fate Exposes Arab Radicals' Lies - Saudi Press

Dec. 15, 2003

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi newspapers on Monday said the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein without a shot fired exposed the weakness and hypocrisy of radical Arab leaders.

"What we saw yesterday was the televised unveiling of 30-year-old lie. A leader surrendered without fighting, the Arab street is stunned, and the Arab media appears to be in a state of shock," wrote Tareq al-Hamed in Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Saddam was one of a string of Arab dictators over the last 50 years who boldly cast themselves as fearless champions of Arab nationalism.

But the once ruthless ruler was shown after U.S. troops found him near Tikrit as a grubby and bearded prisoner, resigned to his fate. Saddam appeared submissive and obedient in a videotape showing his capture by U.S. soldiers.

"With his silence, those Arabs who favour terrorising people and falsifying (the images of leaders) will also fall silent -- temporarily," wrote Abdul-Rahman al-Rashed in Asharq al-Awsat.

"This is the end of one of the false heroes...but one lie will die for another to appear."

Saudi Arabia, a strict Islamic state, had strained relations with Saddam and his pan-Arab ambitions.

The English-language Arab News hoped this would be the end to authoritarian rule in the Arab region.

"Hopefully, the pit in which he was concealed is also the grave for all despotism in the region. Never again must such a tyrant be allowed to besmirch the Arab world with his brutality," it said.

But commentators said Saddam's arrest should hasten the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"The United States has achieved its declared goal of removing the regime and arresting its leaders," the daily al-Watan said. "Now it must state clearly what the fate of its presence in Iraq will be."

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