Saddam pays off families of 'martyrs'

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A defiant Saddam Hussein, under intense international scrutiny for possible ties to terrorism, this week distributed $225,000 to 21 families of Palestinians killed in fighting with Israel, including $25,000 to the family of a Hamas suicide bomber.

In all, Iraq has paid more than $35 million to families of militants -- including relatives of scores of suicide bombers -- and slain Palestinian civilians in support of the 29-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israel.

Saddam has not tried to hide the payments, disbursing the money in public ceremonies organized by the Arab Liberation Front, a tiny pro-Iraqi faction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Checks of $10,000 were handed out in a packed banquet hall in Gaza City on Wednesday -- even as the United States was trying to persuade the U.N. Security Council support to use military force to disarm Iraq and oust Saddam. Washington has accused Saddam of supporting terrorism.

Ibrahim Zaanen, the Arab Liberation Front leader in Gaza, said the Iraqi payments are a show of Arab solidarity against Western aggression.

"This ceremony, God willing, will not be the last because President Saddam considers the Palestinian people as part of his Arab nation," Zaanen told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The Iraqis and the Palestinians are in the same trench, facing an ugly aggression."

A total of 26 families were supposed to receive checks totalling $275,000 on Wednesday, but five families did not appear and would receive their money later, ALF officials said.

The 26 slain Palestinians whose families were receiving money included 23 civilians, two gunmen and a suicide bomber.

The payments have made Iraq popular among many Palestinians who feel they have been abandoned by other Arab countries in their conflict with Israel. Most Palestinians oppose a U.S. offensive against Baghdad as unjustified, though many also consider Saddam to be a cruel dictator.

Yasser Arafat has been careful not to side with Saddam, as he did in the 1991 Gulf War -- a stance that led to the expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from Gulf states, especially Kuwait.

Arafat's Palestinian Authority has stayed out of the current U.S.-Iraq confrontation, saying only that it should be resolved by peaceful means.

But radical Palestinian groups have openly sided with Iraq at rallies and marches, on one occasion calling on Iraqis to stage suicide bombings against invading troops.

Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound Hamas leader, said recently that war on Iraq was tantamount to a war against all Muslims and "America must be buried in Iraq so they can learn a lesson not to attack any Arab countries."

Israeli intelligence agencies have been looking at the West Bank and Gaza Strip for signs of ties between Saddam and followers of Osama bin Laden, but have not able to establish such a connection, Israeli security sources have said.

Israel says the payments to the Palestinians prove Saddam's link to terrorism, however. "It shows that Saddam is involved in every activity that is terrorism and murderous and leads to instability in the Middle East," said Amira Oron, a spokeswoman for Israel's Foreign Ministry.

In the Gaza City banquet hall, families walked to the podium one-by-one to receive $10,000 checks. A large banner said: "The Arab Baath Party Welcomes the Families of the Martyrs for the Distribution of Blessings of Saddam Hussein."

Among the recipients was the family of a suicide bomber, Mahmoud Jamassi, who blew himself up in a small boat near an Israeli navy vessel in January, killing only himself.

Jamassi was a supporter of the Islamic militant group Hamas, which is listed as a terror organization by the U.S. State Department.

Jamassi's family received $25,000. Iraq also gives $5,000 to families of Palestinian militants whose houses have been demolished by Israel as a deterrent against future attacks.

Another recipient was Tahseen Maghani whose son Karam, a Hamas militant, was killed trying to infiltrate the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in January. Karam exchanged fire with soldiers, but no Israeli was hurt.

Karam's father said he would use the money to plant crops and rebuild his house demolished by Israel. "These are tough times for Saddam but his kindness will help us a lot. Saddam is the only one who has stood with us," Maghani said, adding that he is proud his son died for his nation.

The family of Iyad Akawi, killed during an army raid on a Gaza neighborhood, also received $10,000. Iyad fought off an Israeli incursion with other gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

His sister, Ihdiya, said her mother was too depressed to attend the ceremony. "What's good is he stood up for the Palestinians. He wasn't the first to die and he won't be the last," she said.