"I asked him: you had two machine guns, why didn't you shoot at the Americans? This proves that you are not a courageous Arab man, but a coward," Muwafaq Al-Rubei, member of the Iraqi Governing Council, recalled of his one-hour meeting with Saddam Hussein on Sunday afternoon, hours after he was arrested by US forces in Iraq.
Al-Rubei who spoke to the Weekly by telephone from Baghdad on Monday, added that Hussein, who was in good health, nevertheless looked defeated and unrepentant and did not make eye contact with his visitors.
"I reminded him of the crimes he had committed, but he remained defiant and uttered verbal abuse. He was talking as if he was drunk," said Al-Rubei, who became angry when asked whether he thought the Americans had used some type of gas to prevent Saddam from making attempts at resistance.
Al-Rubei rejected what he described as the claims made by "most Arab media" that Saddam had been drugged at the time of his arrest, but he did not explain why Saddam "appeared as though he was drunk" during the meeting. Al-Rubei was one of the four Interim Governing Council (IGC) members to have met Saddam following his arrest, the others being Ahmed Chalabi, Adnan Bachachi and Adel Abdel-Mahdi.
As the euphoria which accompanied the arrest of the former Iraqi president began to wane earlier this week, many questions arose regarding the fate of the Iraqi resistance that had allegedly been tied to Saddam, as well as regarding Saddam's trial and how he should be punished. A further question asked is when the presence of foreign troops on Iraqi soil would end.
Prominent Iraqi figures who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly pointed out that while the arrest of the former president was "significant", it should not be allowed to distract from more important issues, such as the legacy Saddam had left behind.
"He is responsible for the US-led occupation of Iraq. He led the country from one disaster to another," prominent Iraqi economist Isam Al-Khafaji told the Weekly from Baghdad. Al- Khafaji nonetheless also believes that the arrest of Saddam and his subsequent trial should not distract Iraqis from the more important task of putting an end to the US-led occupation.
"Questions concerning how Iraq is being run, in what direction it is going and in what way the sovereignty of the country can be regained are much more important than what fate awaits Saddam," Al-Khafaji said.
Echoing the same views, Nuri Abdel-Razaq, secretary- general of the Cairo-based Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organisation, himself an Iraqi exile, said that while a new phase of Iraqi history had begun with the US-led occupation of Iraq, the arrest of Saddam "should not be blown out of proportion".
He said that the arrest had psychological more than political implications. "Saddam's regime ended when Baghdad was occupied. His arrest was only the finishing touch," Abdel-Razaq said.
While both Al-Khafaji and Abdel-Razaq downplayed the impact of the arrest on the level of the attacks on the occupying US troops in the country, Abdel-Razaq believed that almost 80 per cent of the attacks were due to mistakes committed by the Americans.
"The resistance is more likely to continue because of the excessive use of force by the Americans and their use of oppressive practices against the Iraqi people," he said. "Resistance should be focused on US targets and not Iraqi ones. Now that the resistance has rid itself of the connection with Saddam, it should be linked to the current political process taking place in Iraq because it is this that will drive the Americans out of the country," Abdel-Razaq said.
For Fakhry Karim, a veteran Iraqi politician and owner of Dar Al-Mada, a media company, the real acts of resistance had just begun, and they involved Iraqis from across the political spectrum. The ultimate goal of the resistance, he explained, was to put an end to the US-led occupation and help rebuild political institutions in Iraq.
"Iraqis should learn to move on. Saddam Hussein's page should be turned forever," Karim told the Weekly on Tuesday. He pointed out that "an historic opportunity" was available for the majority of the former Ba'ath Party members who "have no blood on their hands" and should now join ranks with the rest of the Iraqi people.
"Now that Saddam is gone, the majority of former Ba'athists should declare their rejection of his regime and offer an apology for the oppressive practices committed by Saddam's cohorts. There are prospects for reconciliation among Iraqis, and they should seize the moment," he said.
The trial of Saddam Hussein now overshadows the political debate in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world. Among Iraqis, there is a near consensus that Saddam should stand trial before an Iraqi court. "Saddam's trial should be in Iraq and not anywhere else," Al- Rubei insisted. "We will stick to internationally accepted standards and Saddam will be treated according to human rights laws, but he must be tried before an Iraqi court by Iraqi judges, " Al-Rubei said.
While critics of this view say that the legality of any Iraqi court will be contested since Iraq is still under foreign occupation, Al-Khafaji begged to differ, pointing out that the majority of Iraqis wanted Saddam to be tried before an Iraqi court. This would be a good starting point for a new Iraqi judicial system to emerge, he explained.
"To guarantee that Saddam will get a fair trial, human rights groups could dispatch observers to attend the trial, but Iraqis should not be deprived of the opportunity to try him for the crimes he committed against them," he said.
Abdel-Razaq pointed out that an Iraqi trial would put the onus on the IGC and the new political class in Iraq, since they would have to prove that regardless of their grudges against Saddam the trial would be based on the respect of human rights and would be internationally monitored.
"Saddam should be granted his full legal right to defend himself, and he should be treated in a civilised manner. It will be a test for the new political class in Iraq that the values of human rights and democracy are respected in the new Iraq," Abdel-Razaq said.