Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Saddam Copycat #5

The Arab News is reporting on Tuesday, 9, January, 2007 (20, Dhul Hijjah, 1427) of another Saddam execution video copycat hanging. This appears to be the fifth one revealed in various local and international media.

Please note in the article posted below, this newly reported incident is said to be the "fourth." But the source appears to be unaware of what we posted here today, of the fourth copycat, last January 3, 2007, in Harborcreek, Pennsylvania, when Bobby Martin, 16 years old, died by hanging who may have been watching the video during a New Year's Day party, (see Saddam Copycat #4).

12-Year-Old Saudi Boy in Copycat Hanging

Arab News

Hafr Al-Batin — A 12-year-old Saudi boy hanged himself on Sunday re-enacting the widely publicized execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

His brother found the boy, Sultan Abdullah Al-Shammari, hanging from a rope that he had fixed on an iron door in their home in Hafr Al-Batin, a small town 400 kilometers north of Riyadh, Okaz newspaper reported yesterday.

By the time Sultan was taken to a nearby hospital he was dead. Two of his younger brothers were watching the apparent accidental hanging.

A police investigation is under way to determine whether the accident was a case of parental negligence.

This marks the fourth youngster that has died imitating the hanging of the former Iraqi strongman. A 10-year-old boy in Houston, Texas, last Thursday hanged from his bunk bed, in a death that was ruled accidental. On the same day, a 15-year-old Indian girl committed suicide by hanging after becoming depressed and expressing outrage over the execution of the former dictator.

A nine-year-old Pakistani boy hanged himself from a ceiling fan on Jan. 1 trying to copy the scenes from the widely distributed video clip of the execution. That death was also ruled accidental.