2006年VOA标准英语-Saddam Hussein Buried; New Video Shows Last Mom

By Margaret Besheer
Irbil, Iraq
31 December 2006

 
Iraqis grieve beside the burial site of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Ouja, Iraq, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad Sunday 31 Dec. 2006
Former dictator Saddam Hussein, who was executed by hanging Saturday for crimes against his people, was buried shortly before sunrise Sunday in the town of his birth. Meanwhile, new video has surfaced of Saddam's last moments on the gallows¹, including a defiant² exchange with his executioners. From Iraq, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

It was an anti-climatic end for a notorious dictator who sowed so much fear and adoration³ during his decades of rule over Iraq.

Sheikh Ali Neda, the chief of Saddam's Albu-Nassir clan⁴, along with the governor and deputy governor of Salahuddin province, flew to Baghdad Saturday evening to claim his corpse⁵.

They returned to the village of Ouja, near his hometown of Tikrit. His Iraqi-flag draped remains⁶ were interred⁷ in a simple grave inside a building that is part of a religious compound. A large framed photograph of Saddam sat on a chair nearby.

The internment⁸ took place before dawn in keeping with Muslim tradition that the dead be buried within 24 hours. During the day, thousands of mourners came to pay their respects.

Tikrit is under a four day curfew, with no one allowed to leave or enter the city, but that did not stop Saddam loyalists from taking to the street, waving his picture and shooting into the air as they called for revenge.

Yasin Majid al-Hashimi, media advisor⁹ to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told Iraqiyah television Sunday that the government decided¹⁰ to release Saddam's body to his clan for humanitarian¹¹ reasons, but also to stop the spread of false rumors¹² that he was not really dead.

Al-Hashimi says the former leader's body was washed and prayed over like any other deceased Muslim.  He added that during 35 years, Saddam never showed any respect for Muslim tradition or holy sites, and when he killed people he did not show the same respect for their bodies that his received.

 
Video from al-Iraqiya television shows Saddam Hussein moments before being hanged in Baghdad, 30 Dec 2006

An Iraqi court sentenced the 69-year-old former president to hang for ordering the killing¹³ of 148 Shi'ites from the village of Dujail after a failed assassination¹⁴ attempt against him there in 1982.

Meanwhile, Iraqi television channels and some Arab websites are showing new video taken in the final moments of the execution apparently¹⁵ with a camera phone.

In Saddam's last moments at the gallows he exchanged angry and sarcastic¹⁶ words with his apparently Shiite executioners.  The executioners begin shouting prayers to God and the Prophet Mohammed, then one person calls the name "Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada" - a reference to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Saddam then asks them, "Is this manhood?" To which a voice tells him to go "to Hell" and he replies, "You go to Hell!"

Saddam, with the noose¹⁷ around his neck, begins to recite the Muslim prayer known as the "Shahada," in which he says "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Messenger."  It is during his second recitation of this verse that the trap door opens and the former strongman goes to his death.

1 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

2 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

3 adoration   

n.爱慕，崇拜

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。

4 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

5 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 interred   

v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The body was interred at the cemetery. 遗体埋葬在公墓里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网

9 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

17 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。