Libya to erect statue of Saddam on the gallows

Statue of former Iraqi president to stand alongside Libyan resistance hero

Mideast/North Africa video

Most popular

• Most viewed

• Top rated

• Most e-mailed

The 20 saltiest foods in America exposed

New Orleans wonders if rebuilt levees will hold

No mates, mate! ‘Man drought’ afflicts Australia

Baby boy born on airliner en route to Australia

Ugly is the new beautiful: 27 non-traditional models

Most viewed on msnbc.com

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.

Story continues below ↓

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.