Ahmad Hassan al-Baker statue toppled

Iraqis, chanting joyfully, yesterday toppled a statue for the former Iraqi President Ahmad Hassan al-Baker who ruled Iraq directly before Saddam Hussein and the last symbol of the rule of the Iraqi Baath Party which lasted for 35 years.

A group of Iraqis brought a crane to al-Mansour quarters in Baghdad yesterday and destroyed the only statue in the city for al-Baker which was a President for Iraq from 1968- 1979.

Al-Baker resumed residency in Iraq in a coupe that brought the Baath party to power, but the actual power remained in the hands of his deputy Saddam Hussein who assumed presidency in 1979.

Iraqis, who were standing watching the downing of al-Baker statue, were carrying a banner calling for eliminating "the criminals" of the former ruling party, while another banner called for not dealing with the regime of Saddam Hussein mercifully.