Mobile Execution!

An Iraqi watches video footage of the execution ousted leader Saddam Hussein on a mobile phone (AFP)

The availability of a new video of Saddam Hussein's execution taken from a mobile camera has shocked the world even more than yesterday's hanging. The new video with audio has clearly revealed of how it was a hostile and sectarian motivated execution.

The carefully choreographed silent television footage released by Iraqi TV was meant to show the world a well managed and calm execution process.

There was also official photographers and videographers appointed by the Iraqi Officials to capture and document the execution for future purposes. The Iraqi officials who thought they could negotiate a hefty sum for exclusive video rights probably from western TV networks or Al Jazeera did not reckon a leak. They were beaten to the game by a new emerging form of journalism - "mobile journalism." Mobile Journalism is where normal people capture images and videos of breaking news stories and events using ordinary camera mobile phones and sharing it on the internet. Newsrooms around the world had to rely on the limited footage of the Iraqi Channel showing Saddam with a noose around his neck and Al Biladi Channel showing a dead Saddam covered in a white shroud. While in the west American networks were still deciding whether to show more than a picture of Saddam, the Internet showed all.

The video which was shot by the unknown person was quickly uploaded and is spreading like wildfire across the Internet and mobile phones. It shows how secure a location can be and how ever controlled a event can be planned it can be all upset by a witness carrying a mobile phone into a high level security zone. Yesterday's security measures would have been so tight that even a fly would not have been able to get in. It is also notable from the video, how no one noticed a person shooting away on a mobile phone just a few feet away from the actual hanging.

This release of the video, redefines the way journalism will be reported in the future. However, the video is an embarrassment and a total blow up on the faces of the people responsible for it. The effects and impact of this video will have more impact on the future of the Iraqi people and all involved in Iraq than the hanging itself.

The mood is sombre and the New Year celebrations are all about Saddam's hanging and now his new video. So much for trying to make him obscure, had they tried him and locked him away in some forgotten cell. But now with a showdown, he will be forever remembered like Billy the Kid or General Custard's, both of whom rode to their deaths with a smile!