Iraqis perform 'leap of faith'

By Matthew Price BBC correspondent in Baghdad

Some Iraqis are not convinced the brothers are really gone

Iraqis are having to perform a huge leap of faith following years of their lives being dominated, ruled and in some cases ended by Saddam Hussein and his family.

Now the world they once lived in has been turned upside down.

Gone is Saddam Hussein. American troops are now patrolling their cities. And now, they are told, two of the "untouchables" are dead.

In one of Baghdad's many cafes, dominos and dice games dominate. At a table there's a group of men chatting. One of them, Mahmoud, used to make furniture for the Husseins.

"I'm sure Qusay is one of the pictures," he said, pulling on the water-pipe by his side. "But Uday, I'm not sure."

The Americans say Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed when US troops attacked a villa in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday.

But like Mahmoud, many are finding it hard to take the news in.

Proof?

On Thursday, the coalition released photographs of what it says are the bodies of the two brothers.

The UK Government's representative to Iraq, John Sawer, told me that publishing the pictures had been a difficult decision.

"It's a fine line we have to draw, but we are drawing it. The material will convince the Iraqi people they can celebrate," he said.

Some Iraqis are unhappy the brothers were killed not tried

On Friday though, they went further, allowing a select number of journalists into the makeshift morgue at Baghdad airport, where the bodies were filmed.

Some have complained it is distasteful. Arab commentators and pundits argue that when allied prisoners of war were shown on Arabic television during the war, the coalition was furious.

Mr Sawer says the two are totally different.

"It is quite right that individuals fighting for their country should not be paraded in any way for propaganda. This is not propaganda. These were the leaders of the regime that butchered the Iraqi people."

Regret

But some are asking why they had to be killed.

Baghdad's intellectuals say that is the most distasteful part. If the raid had been in Europe or America they doubt it would have so dramatic. How could 200 troops not take the brothers alive?

Back in the café, Mahmoud (who doesn't want his full name used - people here are still suspicious), says if it is true, in many ways he wishes the two men were not dead.

"I would have preferred the army to arrest them, not kill them. To make sure they are Uday and Qusay. Then we could put them on trial."

In Iraq, as the news settles in, some feel they have been cheated out of seeing the men who terrorised them for so long brought to justice.