"I cried when I saw Saddam's body'' says victim

BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (Reuters) A victim who testified in Saddam Hussein's trial told Reuters today he cried when he saw the body of the ousted president during a private reception at Iraq's prime minister's office today.

''When I saw the body in the coffin I cried. I remembered my three brothers and my father who he had killed. I approached the body and told him: 'This is the well-deserved punishment for every tyrant','' Jawad al-Zubaidi said.

''Now for the first time my father and three brothers are happy,'' he said.

Saddam was hanged at dawn for crimes against humanity for the killing and torture of 148 Shi'ite villagers in Dujail following an assassination attempt in 1982.

Zubaidi said Saddam's body, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, was brought in an ambulance and laid in a coffin, partially covered with a white sheet.

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