Man's tongue chopped off for blasting Saddam

Damascus, Iraq Press, Nov. 30 - A group of Saddam Commandos, a dreaded militia force, have amputated the
tongue of an old Iraqi man allegedly for assailing President Saddam Hussein.

Eyewitnesses told Iraq Press that the man, 50-year-old Maeen Abdulhaddi, was subjected to the punishment in
the presence of a crowd of people in one of Baghdad's main thoroughfares.

Handcuffed, Abdulhaddi was seen cordoned off by the commandos and dragged to al-Rashid Street in the heart
of Baghdad. One of the commandos reached out for his bayonet and the other grabbed Abdulhaddi by the head,
opened his jaws and pulled out his tongue.

The crowd started crying and screaming when part of Abdulhaddi's tongue was chopped off and blood started
streaming from his mouth.

The commandos immediately left the scene when the angry crowd of onlookers swelled, fearing a backlash.

Old women wept and shouted ''God is Great! God is Great!' Soon after, the shop owners in the street where
Abdulhaddi worked pulled down the shutters and went home.

Security personnel were called in to disperse the crowd and Abdulhaddi was taken to hospital for treatment.

Criticizing the Iraqi strongman is an offense in Iraq. Offenders are sometimes executed. Abdulhaddi is the fourth
known Iraqi to have his tongue chopped off. 

Saddam’s elder son, Udai, best known for his playboy image and fearsome reputation for brutality, has
introduced the unprecedented corporal punishment.

Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed concern about such cruel and unusual punishments like the
branding of foreheads and amputations of ears, hands and recently tongues which are sometimes prescribed by
the law or arbitrarily carried out by para-military services like Saddam Commandos.

The government has never acknowledged reports of tongue amputations but previously the state-run media
carried stories with pictures of army deserters who had their ears chopped off and foreheads branded.
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