Saddam Hussein Nagar, Sri Lanka

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Saddam Hussein Town is the name of a village exclusively inhabited by local Muslims in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. It is named after Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq. Saddam became involved after floods hit the area in 1978 and the local authorities approached the Iraqi embassy for help. The former president was said to have readily obliged and sponsored construction of the entire village with some 100 houses, including a school and a mosque.

After the capture of Saddam by United States military forces, the villagers of Saddam Hussein Village were critical of the U.S. policy in Iraq. Among the comments recorded by the BBC were:

that the arrest was "unacceptable".
that it was one more example of U.S. high-handedness and dictatorship.
that the U.S. was evading the issue of the missing weapons of mass destruction.
that they were receiving a number of reports about the murder of innocent people and harassment of women in Iraq.

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Saddam Hussein was extremely popular in Sri Lanka. This was not only because of the aid received but also because of the role played by Iraq in the pre-1990 period in keeping tea prices high—Iraq was the largest purchaser of Sri Lankan tea. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Hussein has been elevated to the status of a hero in Sri Lanka, particularly after his capture. More than 20 Sri Lankan lawyers planned to defend the former Iraqi President at his trial. Lawyer N Sri Kantha said that it was "a fight for justice and against big power hegemonism in a uni-polar world," adding "We would not have minded if Saddam was replaced by the Iraqi people themselves in an election. But we cannot accept an outside power invading the country, overthrowing its leader and then saying that he will be sentenced to death, even before a trial." [1]

[edit] Attacks on the village

127 Muslims were murdered at three villages, including Saddam Hussein Village, about 10 August 1990, allegedly by the paramilitaries of the SriLanka government.