I am still shocked even after watching hours of TV. Its funny how as I grew up this was the man I hated most in my life and have always wanted him killed but for some reason the feelings of joy were not what I expected. There are many reasons for that but I think mainly the fact that this ended up being an Al Dawa political party fight versus Saddam is what saddens me. Al Dawa where the political party involved in Dujail, the first case Saddam was tried on was Dujail (in my eyes a big mistake) but that was on the orders of former Iraqi PM Ibrahim Al-Ja’afari who comes from the Al Dawa party. Coincidentally the warrant was signed by Al-Maliki again from the Al Dawa party and finally exclusive footage of Saddam’s dead corpse was shown on Al Dawa’s TV channel Baladi. I just wish that he could have faced all the charges against him, but I am no politician and maybe they couldn’t wait any longer. Finally I don’t think the situation will change in Iraq much because the people who hate Saddam or love him are all still going to have the same deep hatred and divisons towards each other. Unity isn’t about being the same but about accepting each other’s differences and the way Iraqis act that does not look like happening any time soon.

Iraq Pundit:

Saddam has long been a dead man walking, and I don’t care about him or whatever hell he has gone to. My concern is how his well-deserved execution will affect the continuing crisis in Iraq. Most of those around me feel the same way. An older relative who long ago fled Iraq thought of Saddam as the man who signed tens of thousands of death warrants. And even younger relatives who never lived under Saddam regard him as a man undeserving of sympathy. All of us are focused on seeing Iraq’s current agony come to an end.

24 Steps to Liberty:

The scene basically dismissed my life, my emotional sufferings, my sleepless nights under Saddam Hussein’s regime and it dismissed any respect to what I’ve been through. Watching Hussein walking to the gallows was what reassured me that the “liberation” wasn’t for the Iraqis to enjoy, but for an invasion to allow the exiles, especially the Mullahs, to take revenge. What’s next? Does it mean my family will be safe now that Saddam Hussein is dead? Does it mean the Iraqis will stop hating each other and killing each other? There are no more Shiites and Sunnis slaughtering each other? [Ironically Hussein is accused of provoking sectarian conflict in Iraq!] Did they [Iraqi government and their advisors] think killing Saddam Hussein will unite the Iraqis and solve the problem? The answer to those questions is: No. And they don’t care!

Dr Fadhil Badran - Iraq4Ever:

The assassination of Saddam Hussein has killed the last hope of peace in Iraq. I think, this assassination has been planned by Iran, Israel, and Britain; those players used the US as a fire-catcher! Iran chose to assassinate him on the 1st. day of Al-Ad’ha to say that the Eid is not on the 30th of December, which means that Muslims are not unified, and of course because Saddam had stopped the Persian dream to occupy the Arab countries in the gulf area. Israel has chose the way of assassination by Hanging him to make revenge for the Israeli spies who were hanged in Baghdad in 1969. Britain insists on the assassination for the revenge of Saddam Hussein nationalization of the Iraqi petroleum in 1971. The only losers in this event are the Iraqis and the American soldiers in Iraq.

Treasure of Baghdad:

Although I expected it, I was shocked when I heard it. I felt I want to cry but my tears were mixed, tears of happiness and sadness at the same time. Memories of my life under Saddam flashed back in my mind like a train moving fast. An important chapter of our life is finally over. I felt happy because finally the one who suppressed us is gone and forever now. However, I felt sad because his execution is going to increase the blood bath that is already taking place. I felt sad because Saddam was replaced by more tyrants instead of one. Iraq is not a free country yet. Iraq is suffering from Mullahs and Sheikhs who most of them are religious extremists who are trying to take back Iraq to hundreds years back. Sunni and Shiite extremists who are in the government and parliament now are the ones who are imposing their religious ideas on people and in a country where most of its cities were secular. If someone criticizes them, they kill him. So what’s the difference? Saddam is hanged and so should the ones ruling Iraq now.

In military parlance, there is a concept known as “the golden hour.” It refers to the window of time within which badly wounded troops have a good chance of surviving if they can be evacuated to medical facilities. But if this window closes, the chance of saving the wounded soldiers drops sharply.

“We have missed the golden hour,” I was told recently by a U.S. officer with extensive combat experience outside Baghdad. He was referring to the chance of stabilizing Iraq.

That’s also the feeling I got when I read the much-awaited report last week of the Iraq Study Group chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton. The recommendations make great sense, but it may be too late to save the patient.

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That said, I believe the report largely reflects the direction in which U.S. policy in Iraq is headed. Even though President Bush already has rejected key points, I think events are moving beyond his control.

The report revolves around two key ideas:

First, the need for a new diplomatic initiative in the region, in which the United States would press Iraq’s neighbors, including Syria and Iran, to stop meddling and help stabilize the country.

Second, a change in the main mission of U.S. forces. They would pull back from fighting insurgents but would insert thousands of trainers into Iraqi military units, pushing Iraqis to assume the major combat role. The goal would be to withdraw most U.S. combat units by early 2008, while support troops, special forces and rapid reaction teams would remain.

In the days since the report’s release, Bush has distanced himself from the 2008 date. Some critics of the report, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have called the withdrawal a prescription for defeat. It’s hard to believe that Iraqi troops, with their checkered record, will be ready in time.

But mistakes of the past limit the possibilities of the present. I believe McCain is right that more U.S. troops could have stabilized Iraq early on, but former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld chose not to send them. Now there are no more U.S. troops to send for any extended period. A temporary “surge” of 20,000 cannot stabilize troubled areas; Sunni insurgents would return when the “surge” leaves.

So we have little choice but to turn more responsibility over to Iraqi forces, however unreliable. Iraqi leaders visiting Washington, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and top Shiite political leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, have requested heavier equipment for their military as well as more control of its actions. A stepped-up program for inserting U.S. trainers into Iraqi units already has begun.

As for the 2008 date, it is risky indeed. But events in Iraq won’t wait on our timetable.

If Iraqis haven’t produced a coherent government by 2008 and if Iraqi troops haven’t improved by 2008, the game already will be up. The presence of U.S. troops will have become irrelevant as sectarian conflict surges around them and they retreat to their bases.

“Although I am happy that Saddam is going to be executed, I think it’s not going to change the real mess in Iraq…”

“Most of the Iraqis I’ve prodded felt oblivious to what could happen to Saddam’s neck. A Sunni cousin of mine by the name of Omar in Ghazaliya said, “To the hell,” while another Sunni cousin of mine in Egypt said, “To the heck.” I for one, felt happy, and congratulated everyone I saw…”

“We are witnessing an incredible moment in the history of freedom. I had no idea that the verdict would release such an intense bond of fealty to Saddam among those who reject and fight the new Iraq…”

“The decision on Sunday was bittersweet, as an Iraqi Kurd I think this is the day of justice we have all looked forward to and dreamed about, that Saddam would find his fate and that the martyrs and people of Iraq who have suffered due to him would be on the other side of the equation…”

Baghdad Treasure:

Although I am happy that Saddam is going to be executed, I think it’s not going to change the real mess in Iraq. It is something like Zarqawi’s death, which changed nothing. I think most Iraqis, especially those who lost relatives by Saddam’s tyranny, are happy that he is sentenced to death. But at the same time, the same people are still sad and depressed due what is going on there. It is what I call bittersweet.
I also think that executing him is something that is going to make him rest. I believe he should not be dead. He should be tortured like the ones he and his men tortured. He should be humiliated like how he humiliated his people. Then, he should be hanged. Where? In al-Tahrir square, where he once hanged victims in public. This is the kind of justice that should be done.
I think that Iraqis should focus on the present. The past has passed. It is in this critical time that we Iraqis should focus on how to restore our life and our country. It’s not an easy task but we should do something. I know most of us are helping our country by continue studying and working. Even our writing is a tool that is going to help Iraq. The government and the occupation seem to be unable to help, if they wanted to help.

Iraqi Konfused Kid:

Most of the Iraqis I’ve prodded felt oblivious to what could happen to Saddam’s neck. A Sunni cousin of mine by the name of Omar in Ghazaliya said, “To the hell,” while another Sunni cousin of mine in Egypt said, “To the heck.” I for one, felt happy, and congratulated everyone I saw. While having justice done to the tyrant would have been so much better if it were not for the sad state of Iraq today, I only felt good today because this could actually achieve good effects on the ground -I think that the minute Saddam is executed many of the Baathists would stop and reconsider what they are fighting for. The Iraqi Baath party always will be a personality cult. Hell may break loose for the next couple of days but remember, we are already in hell, so bring it on.

Nibras Kazimi - Talisman Gate:

We are witnessing an incredible moment in the history of freedom. I had no idea that the verdict would release such an intense bond of fealty to Saddam among those who reject and fight the new Iraq.

Today, we learn that the insurgency is doomed, and that the insurgents know that they are facing doom. And today, they have come to recognize doom in whatever length of rope is necessary to hang a man—indeed, to hang an era.

AYS - Iraq at a Glance:

I was watching it alone in my flat. Honestly, tears flew from my eyes as the judge announced the ‘death by hanging’ sentence. I don’t know why! Yes, he destroyed my country, killed the people, ruined everything, squandered our fortune, and dispossessed the people in addition to the uncountable crimes. But I feel sorry for him today!

Sami - An Iraqi’s Thoughts:

The decision on Sunday was bittersweet, as an Iraqi Kurd I think this is the day of justice we have all looked forward to and dreamed about, that Saddam would find his fate and that the martyrs and people of Iraq who have suffered due to him would be on the other side of the equation.

The irony is I sincerely hoped he would apologise, it may sound childish but I thought maybe somewhere along the line he would say he was sorry for the harm and pain that he inflicted upon the Iraqi people and that if he could go back in time he would do things differently. That will never happen and for the rest of my lifetime I will be arguing with non-educated liberals and right wing Arabs about how bad he was, with their counter argument of what is happening now is WORSE than Saddam.

What matters is not who killed more or who died, Saddam created a mentality and way of thinking that not only people from Tikrit use…. I was watching Abdul Aziz Hakim and if Saddam thought people deserved to be killed based on sect or ethnicity than there are those people Iraqis suffer from today, who enforce extremism and religion onto the people of Iraq.

I sincerely thought that Iraq would be liberated from Saddam’s style of totalitarian thinking and people would be ‘liberated’ and free to act and feel the way they do. I am very happy that Saddam has received the ultimate insult but hope that all those who copy his ways in one or another somehow find the same fate as him.

Majed Jarrar – Me vs. Myself:

The imprudent administration of the United States thought that by finishing the play of Saddam’s trial they could appeal to more people that they were finally able to achieve their fake victory in Iraq. One would definitely argue now that ‘evil’ is removed from Iraq and the situation is on its way to be perfect soon. Americans and people of the world are smarter than this. Evil will always remain in Iraq until the US administration completely pulls out all its troops from here.

Elen Ghulam – Ihath:

Goodbye Iraq’s butcher;
may you never grow in our dreams.
You were the farce that placed itself
where lives were torn apart.
You called out to our country,
and you tormented those already in pain.
Now you belong to hell,
and in shame we spell out your name.
And it seems to me you lived your life
like a candle in the wind:
fading with the sunset
when the rain set in.
And your footsteps we try to erase,
along Iraq’s bloody path;
your candle’s burned out long before
your cowards ever will.
Greatness you’ve lost;
these empty days without your tyranny.
This torch we’ll always carry
for our nation’s golden child.
And even though we try,
the truth brings us to tears;
all our words cannot express
the nightmares you brought us through the years.
Goodbye Iraq’s butcher,
from a country lost with or without you,
we won’t miss your iron fist
not that you ever cared.

Marshmallow – Iraqi Roses:

For me, I am neither against nor with what the court decided yesterday, enough with it … what will get in my pocket if I cheer up or mourn him? NOTHING!! Iraqis are getting killed every day and double or triple what was in the past. We get confused how we are going to burry our dead beloved people and where, we get that fear inside us when we hold the funerals, we get scared and nervous when we go to work and not sure whether we will make it or not!!! This decision will generate a huge controversy amongst Iraqis for a while but it will be kept down by time, because their icon no longer will be alive. Just like what happened when they captured him, the people went crazy, celebrating and fighting, but later every thing went back to its normal status.

Sooni:

Finally, we folded the book of tyranny in Iraq. It was not surprising to hear the death penalty, Saddam killed more than anyone can imagine with his wars and the countless atrocities against his own people, but it was surprising to see a good bunch of whiners grieving upon the tyrant.

Gilgamesh – Into the Sun:

I would have applauded this trail process, later the verdict, whether death penalty or not, if it would have been a solely Iraqi process, coming from the ethos of the Iraqi people and nothing else, I would have applauded this verdict if it was not tailored to suit the interests of foreign occupying forces in my country, and I would have applauded this verdict, if Iraqi people were smart enough to be a unified force, and one voice, and not clashing over a death sentence that has nothing to do with them and quite exogenous to their very wants and desires!

Najma - A Star From Mosul:

What are my reactions on the trial? NONE. I didn’t even watch it. I didn’t want to. It won’t change a thing, not to the better at least.

What’s Saddam to me? Once a president who I hated. Now a former president who just “made” things work!!

Omar and Mohammed - Iraq the Model:

I was overwhelmed with joy and relief as I watched the criminals being read their verdicts. For the first time in our region tyrants are being punished for their crimes through a court of law.
Until this moment and while I’m typing these words I’m still receiving words of congratulations in emails, phone calls and text messages from friends inside and outside the country. These were our only means to share our happiness because of the curfew that limits our movement.
This is the day for Saddam’s lovers to weep and I expect their shock and grieve to be huge. They had always thought their master was immortal so let them live in their disappointment while we live for our future.

Riverbend – Baghdad Burning:

When All Else Fails… Execute the dictator. It’s that simple. When American troops are being killed by the dozen, when the country you are occupying is threatening to break up into smaller countries, when you have militias and death squads roaming the streets and you’ve put a group of Mullahs in power- execute the dictator.

Everyone expected this verdict from the very first day of the trial. There was a brief interlude when, with the first judge, it was thought that it might actually be a coherent trial where Iraqis could hear explanations and see what happened. That was soon over with the prosecution’s first false witness. Events that followed were so ridiculous; it’s difficult to believe them even now.

Dr. Nazhad Hawramany – Iraqi Kurdistan:

The verdict of the Iraqi Special Tribunal to execute Saddam Hussein and some of his aides by hanging for crimes against humanity is fair and just. It gives the long yearned justice for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed on his hands and the hands of his cronies over nearly 40 years of dictatorial and brutal rule. His victims were never given the chance of a trial and were killed under torture or buried live in mass graves or fed into mincing machines alive legs first.
The Iraqi people are still suffering the psychological consequences of his republic of fear.
The Iraqi people proved to the entire world that they were civilized and put Saddam and his cronies in a court of law to be tried fairly and openly for his numerous crimes.
Every Iraqi is relieved now that at last justice is delivered.

Khalid Jarrar – Secrets in Baghdad:

Saddam is nothing but a political card American politicians are playing against the American public.

The day of the fall of Baghdad was the day that Saddam stopped being important to me, he lost the power and became history.

So now after three years of the shameful situation Iraq is in now, all what Bush’s administration has to offer the public to gain some voted is Saddam’s death.

And what exactly is his death gonna do to improve Iraq or life in Iraq? The sectarian tension or the security situation? The electricity or water? The curfews or the blocked streets? The puppet government or the dirty politicians? The loans of the billions stolen from Iraq as cash or oil since the invasion by Iraqi or Americans politicians?

Nothing at all.

Here is what I think will happen: Saddam is not gonna be executed now, this small play is just for the current small elections. Now of course the appeal story will start, more and more episodes of Saddam’s trial on TV, and then finally on the important elections of 2008, when also the miserable American administration won’t have anything to offer to Americans as a shadow of success in Iraq, they will decide that the court decided again that he should be executed, right before the elections, the audience applause, curtain is down.

Truth About Iraqis:

Saddam was not brought to justice by the Iraqis. He did not face an impartial Iraqi court. His sentence was not handed down by Iraqis.

Therefore, because justice has been so raped, and because the new Iraq is a bastardized version of the old, Saddam will likely be referred to as a martyr.

And nothing will be solved with his execution. Tyrants and saviors come and go. Birds leave their residue on their statues - if any are left.

The Iraqi resistance will not fade.
They do not fight for Saddam.
They fight for Iraq.

Salam Adil – Asterism:

Historic is probably the only word to describe the death penalty passed to Saddam today. I would say good riddance to him for too many reasons which you can read in other Iraqi blogs. But American politicians will not be celebrating. The biggest victor from this will be the Mehdi Army.

Neurotic Iraqi Wife:

If it makes all those he tortured happy and satisfied then yes, I will be glad too. If it makes all those mothers that lost their sons smile, then yes I will smile too. If it makes all the kids he orphaned have hope again, then yes I will have hope too…But Only If….

Hala - In Love With Iraq:

A Mockery of Justice So what! This is what he deserves. A theatrical court! Again so what isn’t it better than no court at all?

A lot are worried about the injustice the trial reflected.

A simple Iraqi man had the best answer and said on TV, “Those who think of it this way have never been ruled by a dictator and simply have no idea what dictatorship means”.

Hammorabi:

The sentence of Saddam is a step forward for the end of a dark period on the life of Iraq and the world. This may give more hope for the Iraqis and stability in the region.

No Pain, No Gain:

I know iraqis can lack trust in things until it happens. I wont believe it till it really happens. In several parts of history for example, attempts of success in overthrowing saddam brought an extreme amount of emotion to the setting at the time but didn’t succeed in the end. In 2003, Iraqis were taken away from Saddam’s rule for the time being but were extremely fearful of his comeback and aftermath such as now. Neither is there a difference for doubting this verdict of the court…. can we believe it will happen…to have the rope hung over his neck? Thats only for time to tell.

Iraq Pundit:

During the years that Saddam ruled Iraq and killed countless Iraqis without the benefit of a trial, how often did the supposedly principled voices of Ramsey Clark, Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch speak out against the Baathists? Saddam never gave anyone a fair trial — if he gave them a trial at all.

Ishtar - Iraqi Screen:

He said, “ I began to envy the people who were considered as martyrs in time of Saddam, at least, he used to grant them permanent salary, car and piece of land and a salary for their parents, what did Dawa party give me for my son? only car bombs and IEDS.

Fatima - Thoughts From Baghdad:

How do I feel about it? I remember watching Saddam on TV when he was still in power, and to me he epitomized the Arabic word jabbar- arrogant, powerful tyrant- more than any other dictator ruler out there. Seeing him when he was caught and through out his trials, and today, was just so humbling. Going from so high up, from such power and arrogance and jabaroot to such an end, subhanaAllah, very humbling.
What else am I feeling? I’m seeing people turn this into a Sunni/Shiite clash, and that is not right. Like I mentioned before, everyone, Sunni/Shiite/Kurd, were affected by the former regime. But things have not gotten better since Saddam’s days, to say the least, and many people here are just not celebrating.

Chikitita - First Words, First Walk, First… in Iraq:

As for my other friend, in the early days of the trial, she was happy that Saddam was finally humiliated, though not for the crime perpetrated against her late husband, who was not recognized as a martyr by the current government, who happened to have similar feelings towards communists. I rang her to see what she had to say. She was in tears.

“Get outta here don’t tell me you feel bad?” I teased, though I know she’s such a softie, cries over anything that ranges from sappy Egyptian movies to religious sermons to crappy ballads to Shia songs to Mills& Boon types of books.

“Well I do! My neighbour lost her sons. The militia killed the four of them and wrote Wahabis on their door! I’ve known them for 30 years, for God’s sake!” she said.

“So not feeling good about the verdict, eh?” I asked.

“He killed my husband, but I have never been as scared for my son as I am now,” she said.

It follows the lives of the insurgent, the soldier, the doctor, the militiaman, the prisoner, the salesman and the disabled. All of them young Iraqis who have lost hope and feel they have no future.

Haider, 19, a Shi’ite from Sadr City, lost a leg when American forces opened fire randomly after a bomb targeted their patrol. His father was executed by Saddam’s regime. Now he hates both Saddam and the Americans.

Mazin, 18, joined a Sunni insurgent group in Fallujah after his mother was shot in the head by American troops during the first military campaign against Fallujah. His mother wanted him to complete his studies, but he is obsessed with revenge and continues to fight Americans in Fallujah with a small group of friends.

Ali, 18, is a member of Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

Mohammed, 26, is a doctor working at a hospital in central Baghdad. He is planning to leave the country as soon as possible.

Ahmed, 18, was arrested by American troops two years ago when they stormed into his family’s house in Baghdad. Ahmed, his six brothers and his father were accused of being an insurgent cell. They were imprisoned at Abu Ghraib for twelve months and received no trial.

Kamal, 17, a Shi’ite, was forced to leave a mixed neighbourhood of Baghdad where he lived with his family.

Yousif is a soldier in the new Iraqi army. He was a deserter of the old army.

Watch it here.

Up to 80 gunmen, dressed in camouflaged Interior Ministry uniforms in dozens of unmarked four wheel-drive vehicles and pickup trucks with tinted glass, surrounded and blocked all roads leading to the Directorate of Scholarships and Cultural Relations at Andalus Square at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday.

They stormed the four-story building, claiming they were clearing it to prepare for a visit of U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. But once inside they cocked their weapons and shouted at everyone to stay where they were. In what appeared to be a carefully planned operation, the whole thing took less than 15 minutes. Men were seperated from women, and the women locked up in a room and their cell phones were confiscated. IDs were checked to determine sectarian background and then between 50 to 100 men were hauled off into the pickup trucks. Eyewitnesses said they moved across the Mohammed Al-Qasim highway and passed several checkpoints by Shaab Stadium and the Interior Ministry heading to eastern Baghdad, most likely to Sadr City.

Most of the abducted were employees of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research but many were also academics and students visiting the directorate to apply for scholarships abroad. Even a delivery boy outside the building was not spared. The hostages were of mixed sectarian background, but probably because in a few cases it is hard to determine sect from an ID. Eyewitnesses claim the gunmen spoke in southern Iraqi accent, indicating that they were Shi’ite and probably from Sadr City.

The ministry of Higher Education is controlled by the Sunni Accord front. Abd Dhiyab Al-Ijaili, the minister, is a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, which has been highly vocal against the crimes of Shi’ite militias.

Later in the day, Tuesday, one of the released hostages posted on an Iraqi message board and said that he was asked by the gunmen whether he was Sunni or Shia because they were not quite sure about his surname. “I’m a Muslim,” he replied. “La tit’aiqal,” they told him, meaning ‘don’t be a smart aleck.’ He then told them he is Shia, so they tested him with certain religious questions that supposedly only a Shi’ite can answer. He passed the test and was hurled on the Army Canal highway, just before Sadr City.

Mass abductions are not unusual in Baghdad and have increased after the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in Samarra last February. It is a tactic favoured by both Sunni and Shi’ite gunmen, except that the latter usually conduct their raids in broad daylight in police vehicles and move freely with no resistance from security forces, because they are supposed to be part of it. Yesterday’s incident is the most dramatic yet, and tells volumes of the loyalties of Iraqi security forces recruited by the U.S.

The following graphic summarises the most notable incidents over the last few months:

It has been speculated that today’s raid was possibly in retribution to another mass kidnapping that took place three days ago south of Baghdad, between Latifiya and Yousifiya. About 50 Shi’ites from Diwaniya, travelling to Baghdad, were snatched by masked gunmen and about 10 were killed on the spot. The gunmen, most likely Sunni insurgents, took them in the direction of Hor Rijab, a vast rural area sandwitched between Dora and Mahmoudiya.

Maliki was quick to downplay today’s incident, describing it as “not terrorism but the result of a conflict between militias belonging to this side or that.” Iraqiya state television later, adding its own spin on the incident, reported falsely that most of the hostages were freed. Interior Ministry officials and a government spokesman also stated Wednesday morning that most of the kidnapped employees were released, but they gave conflicting numbers. Relatives of kidnapped employees and visitors, however, claim that many are still missing.

He was also quick to find a scapegoat; five police commanders responsible for the Karrada district were arrested for possible involvement. But the Karrada district is in fact under the control of the Badr Brigade, and the police and army force deployed in that area is just for show. Murals of Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim adourn the streets, and a main street in Jadiriya, south of Karrada was renamed to Badr Street. Hakim himself lives at Tariq Aziz’ former mansion on Jadiriya’s riverside.

The Minister of Higher Education suggested that universities close down, because such an incident may be repeated. He later retracted though and said that students should go to school as usual, reportedly after receiving assurance from Interior and Defense Ministry officals that they would provide extra protection for universities. Yes, I’m just sure Iraqi students and professors feel much safer now.

Very few students turned up for school this morning. My brother Nabil stayed home. I have been looking into solutions to get him out of Iraq as soon as possible because I don’t want him to suddenly end up any moment as a tattered corpse on the outskirts of Sadr City with drill holes in his head just because of what his ID says. I would be forever in debt to anyone who can assist me with this.

UPDATE: (Thursday 9:51 a.m.) It’s confirmed; nearly 80 hostages are still being held, despite the government’s claims that almost all have been released.

The bombings at 3 p.m., Thursday, followed a bold attack by dozens of masked Sunni gunmen, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles, against the Health Ministry at Bab Al-Muadham in central Baghdad. The gunmen attempted to storm the ministry but were kept at bay by ministry guards. They continued to shoot at the ministry from the rooftops of surrounding buildings until U.S. and Iraqi forces arrived at the scene, two hours after the attack had started. The Health Ministry is housed in Baghdad’s Medical City, where the Baghdad Medico-legal Institute (the main morgue in Baghdad), Baghdad University’s medicine and dentistry colleges, as well as several health departments and hospitals are located. The Defense Ministry is just across the street, but it took two hours for Iraqi and U.S. troops to intervene.

Political and religious leaders were swift to condemn the attacks and to call for restraint, also declaring a curfew, but reprisal attacks were immediate. Witnesses described a scene in which Sadr City residents and Mahdi Army militiamen poured onto the streets, firing AK-47s in the air and shouting swear words against Sunni Arabs, U.S. forces and the Iraqi government. The militiamen set up roadblocks and checkpoints. There were no governmental police or army troops at the scene, but they blocked the three main bridges leading to the district.

Shi’ite militiamen fired dozens of mortar shells at the Sunni districts of Adhamiya, Sulaikh and Fadhl, just south of Sadr City. A few shells hit the dome of the Imam Abu Hanifa shrine in Adhamiya. On the other side of the Tigris, the Umm Al-Qura Mosque, headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, at Ghazaliya was also attacked with mortar fire. Other districts that were targeted were Amil, Dora, Yarmouk and Jami’a. There were brief clashes at several areas of the city for the rest of the day.

My family in Baghdad huddled inside their bedroom while they listened to the whistling sound of mortar shells flying above their roof.

A source from Baghdad’s Kindi Hospital stated that up to 500 people may have been killed in the bombings and the following violence Thursday and that there are still corpses on the streets in many parts of the capital.

Attacks against several Sunni mosques were also reported from Basrah and Zubair. Both the headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars and the Islamic Party in Basrah were targeted with rocket-propelled grenades.

Baghdad residents report that the situation is calm today but American and Iraqi troops have been heavily deployed around several Sunni districts. Mosques have been warning Sunnis through their loudspeakers not to leave their areas.

UPDATE: More revenge killings. Shi’ite militiamen, some dressed in police uniform, attacked four mosques in a small Sunni enclave at Hurriya, west of Baghdad. Undeterred by the curfew, they burned six Sunnis alive and killed 19 others. Iraqi soldiers stood by and watched, but now a spokesman for the Defense Ministry is saying the army has the situation in Hurriya under control.

Hurriya used to be a mixed district in western Baghdad, but most of its Sunni residents have left as a result of the sectarian violence that has been raging for months. Hurriya Al-Thaltha contains several Sunni enclaves that are heavily defended, but the militiamen were able to break into it today to take revenge.

More mortar shells were fired at Adhamiya and several districts in western Baghdad during and after Friday prayers.

At the Amil district, in southern Baghdad, the few remaining Sunni families woke up to find signs painted on their doors saying, “All Sunnis should leave. This is a final warning,” and “The house should not be leased or sold.”

Some posters on Iraqi message boards are warning that militiamen in Sadr City are preparing for a wide-scale assault on several Sunni districts, similar to the one that followed the February shrine bombing, as soon as the curfew is lifted.