IRAQ: Uday Hussein once whipped and clubbed Alaa Hamed. But the TV producer was still sorry to hear Saddam Hussein's vicious elder son might have been killed.
"I don't want him dead. I want to torture him first," Mr Hamed said as he recalled the beatings with whenever he made errors at Uday's TV station.
But as news spread around Baghdad that US troops might have killed Uday and his younger brother Qusay, most Iraqis rejoiced over the death of the brothers associated with terror.
And as their deaths were confirmed, the crackle of apparently celebratory rifle fire grew from city neighbourhoods, where families had watched state television footage of Saddam and his sons for years, silently hating and hoping they might one day be gone.
"This is very good. Uday, Qusay and Saddam are the ones who ruined this country. We are in a mess today after the war because of them," shopkeeper Abu Muhammed said.
A housewife agreed. "I'm very happy to hear it. Uday had a very bad reputation for the way he treated women," said Umm Merna, carrying her five-year-old daughter in a suburban street as the sun began to set.
"I'm only sorry that they died so easily," said Ali Hamid (30), who used to own a bookshop. "After all their activities, they ought to be put on trial. So should their father."
Among Iraqis, Uday had a reputation as a playboy, and someone who made a habit of dragging women away from their husbands and raping them.
Qusay, Saddam's right-hand man, was seen as quiet and calculating but just as ruthless as Uday. He was expected to take over from his father.
Even though Saddam was toppled in a US-led invasion in April, some Iraqis are still too nervous to talk, a reminder of the old days when any criticism of Saddam and his sons could lead to prison, or worse.
A veiled woman and her daughter shook their heads and quickly walked away when they heard Uday and Qusay's name.
In recent weeks, purported tapes of Saddam called on Iraqis to resist the US-led occupation. An Iraqi teenager who sat on a bench said Iraqis did not want him back.
"We reject Saddam and we are glad that Uday and Qusay are dead. They oppressed the Iraqi people," said Ali Abdel Wahid, who sells sugary tea in tiny glasses.
Iraqis say they will not feel safe without solid evidence that Saddam and his sons were captured or dead. Uncertainty over their fate has worried Iraqis while they struggle with electricity and water shortages and a lack of security.
Some said the deaths of the Hussein brothers would not ease hardships or improve the mood towards US troops, who have lost 39 of their comrades in attacks since major combat was declared over on May 1st.
"Their death really does not matter. Saddam and his sons destroyed our lives but now we have moved from one dictator to another," said Abu Youssef, who leaned on his crutches.
"All [the Americans do] is talk about democracy. They don't give us services." - (Reuters)