Libya to erect statue of Saddam on the gallows

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updated 3:24 a.m. ET Jan. 5, 2007

TRIPOLI, Libya - Libya will raise a statue of Saddam Hussein alongside that of a national hero hanged in 1931 for leading the Libyan resistance against Italian occupation, the government said Thursday.

“The revolutionary committees have decided to erect a statue of Saddam Hussein standing beside Omar Mukhtar on the gallows,” it said in a statement.

Libya declared three days of mourning after Saddam’s death and cancelled public celebrations around the Eid religious holiday. Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast.

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On the eve of Saddam’s hanging, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said the former Iraq leader was a prisoner of war who must be tried by Iraq’s invaders, the United States and Britain.