In this week’s round-up, we take a look again at the Sudanese blogosphere. As one would expect, blogs posts were mainly centered around Saddam Hussein’s execution and the alleged rape of children in South Sudan by UN peacekeeping troops. Sudanese bloggers also wished each other a happy 51st independence day.

We’ll first start with the reactions to Saddam Hussein’s execution. The Sudanese Thinker was delighted by the news while others like Daana Lost in Translation took the occasion to remind people of the good things Saddam did during his lifetime:

We are never told that he led an extensive modernization program of Iraq that included:

• He redirected the control of Iraqi oil from international monopolies so that Iraq would receive their oil revenues, which caused a huge economic boom to the country.
• Iraq started providing social services to its citizens that were unprecedented in the middle east.
• He established a campaign to eradicate illiteracy from Iraq and free education became compulsory to the highest educational levels.
• The government also supported families of soldiers, granted free health care to everyone, and gave subsidies to farmers.
• Iraq created one of the most modernized public-health systems in the Middle East, earning Saddam an award from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

What do you know…so the tyrant had a good side to him after all!!!

Fluent-Sudani leaned towards declaring him a martyr:

It's a darn shame a man dies protecting his land from occupants.

…Let us classify marytr “Shaheed” in Islam.. according to an authentic hadith, any person who gets killed by occupants of their homes, burnt, drowned. To the last minute, Saddam didn't fear death and revert into a traitor against his nation.

Rihab is angered by those who are calling Saddam Hussein a great leader:

I've been reading a few posts in a few Arab blogs, and the phrase “great leader” keeps popping up after Saddam… and it is starting to really p*ss me off.

Precious Lolo chose to focus on finishing her series of posts on the hijab instead. She did however blog the following:

What I think?
well, its more complicated than just saying, Oh yes he deserved it, or saying he was a noble man who stood up for his country!!
Seriously, I Don't know.. He did a lot of wrong things in his past.. and definitely he should have been removed from the presidency, but execution??!!! And like this?? in front of the whole world? On Muslims EID?? and with people calling him name?!

UN Peacekeepers: They might as well join the Janjaweed!

Now, let's see how Sudanese bloggers reacted to the alleged sexual abuse by UN troops. Black Kush from south Sudan is angry and is worried about the implications this can have on the chances of UN troops coming into Darfur:

With such reports coming out, who will blame Sudan for refusing UN peace keepers from coming to Darfur? Peace Keepers who not only try to keep peace but also abuse and rape children. It is not enough to just investigate the issues. It may take years to gather evidence and prosecute the perpetrators of such heinous crimes.

Th UN should take this seriously. It will not be long before the tight is turn against these peace keepers by the locals.

I will say chase them…

Rihab is outraged:

This is sick, sick, sick! There have been quite a few generations of Southern Sudanese children who have had to go through the most horrific forms of suffering at the hands of their Northern compatriots. Now, when there's a supposed peace force that is there with the mission of protecting the most vulnerable members of society, they go ahead and abuse them???? This is disgusting. I was a supporter of UN interference in Darfur, but to be honest this type of sh*t makes me think again about that stance.

So is Mimz:

I hate them.

They're abusing the children they should be aiding.

Peace keepers my foot! They might as well join the Janjaweed.

Janjaweed is a terms generally used to describe the marauding gunmen in Darfur, Sudan.

As for Sudan's 51st independence day celebration, The Sudanese Thinker has the following:

Anyways, happy 51st independence day to Sudan and to my fellow Sudanese bloggers. It’s been 51 years already and we need to ask ourselves what have we achieved so far as a nation?