Baghdad, December 02: A new satellite television channel promoting Iraq’s former leader Saddam Hussein, which began broadcasting three days ago on the anniversary of his execution, abruptly went off-air on Monday.
The channel, which alternated between calling itself “Saddam” and “Al-Arabi,” showed its first images on Friday, the beginning of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival and the date in the Islamic calendar when Saddam was hanged three years ago.
Its rudimentary broadcasts largely consisted of photographs of Saddam, sometimes in military uniform and at other times with his sons Uday and Qusay. It also showed a video of Saddam’s execution.
On Monday, a caption on the broadcast read: “We apologise to our viewers because we are stopping our programming.” Shortly afterwards, it went off the air.
Saddam was actually hanged on December 30, 2006, the day that year when Eid al-Adha began.
On Friday, hundreds of Iraqis marked the occasion of his execution by gathering at Saddam’s tomb in his home town of Awja, where he and his two sons are buried.
—Agencies