Saddam Hussein To strengthen his own position within the government, Qasim created an alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party, which was opposed to any notion of pan-Arabism. Later that year, the Ba'ath Party leadership was planning to assassinate Qasim. Saddam was a leading member of the operation. At the time, the Ba'ath Party was more of an ideological experiment than a strong anti-government fighting machine. The majority of its members were either educated professionals or students, and Saddam fit the bill. The choice of Saddam was, according to historian Con Coughlin, "hardly surprising". The idea of assassinating Qasim may have been Nasser's,
Reactions to the execution of Saddam Hussein punishment. Saddam's supporters condemned the action as unjust. "The world will know that Saddam Hussein lived honestly, died honestly, and maintained his principles. He did not lie when he declared his trial null", said Saddam's lawyers in a statement. A spokeswoman for Saddam's daughters reported, "They felt very proud as they saw their father facing his executioners so bravely." In Amman, the capital of Jordan, Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad Hussein, joined protests against her father's execution. Protesters expressed sentiment that Saddam is a martyr and that he was the only Arab leader who said no to the United States. According