IRAQ: For a moment they were startled into silence. Then instinctive fear gave way to fury among Iraqis in a Baghdad tea lounge as Saddam Hussein appeared on television - not in a presidential palace but in court.
The watchers unleashed a barrage of abuse.
"Look - the pimp is speaking," said janitor Muhammad Ali, one of the Shia majority that was oppressed under the former president, using one of the harshest Iraqi insults.
"I heard he used to eat a whole deer during every meal, and now he looks much thinner," he added with a smile. Mr Ali comes from Hilla, where several mass graves have been unearthed.
The men had waited for hours for Saddam to face charges, killing time by recalling the military mishaps, United Nations sanctions and torture chambers Iraqis had endured during his three decades in power.
When the image of a Saddam who had clearly lost weight but still projected confidence appeared on an Arab satellite channel, the friends sat up in silence for about 30 seconds. One of them whistled in disbelief.
As footage was shown of Saddam taking notes, Mr Ali said: "Look - his secretary isn't even there to take notes for him any more."
To the crowd perched on the arms of chairs and backs of couches, the riveting footage of Saddam was a far cry from the towering figure in a military uniform who inspired fear in millions of Iraqis - and in neighbouring states. Mr Arkan Hinmis looked closely and noticed that Saddam was not wearing handcuffs and was sitting in a clean courtroom, unlike the grim chambers that ordered summary executions during his rule.
"This is no good. Why are his hands free? The court is nice. He looks comfortable. They call this punishment of a dictator?" the unemployed Iraqi asked.
For these men, it was a chance to release years of pent-up anger and frustration. But even seeing Saddam in the dock was not enough to make them forget past brutalities.
"Saddam had many palaces while his people were starving. But I hesitate to really speak because he still has agents," said Mustafa, who declined to give his full name.
The tea-room customers recalled the tale of a man said to have spat on Saddam's image on television and then been found out and executed after the then president talked to his son during a visit to a school.
One remembered how he was making a decent living in Kuwait for years before he was expelled from the Gulf state after Saddam's invasion troops were driven out in 1991. His friends joked that he was still afraid to speak out against Saddam.
Others welcomed the trial but said that in the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq, the fate of the toppled leader was the least of their worries. "Executing him won't give back what Iraqis lost over the years. What we need now is electricity," said 52-year-old merchant Riad Mohammed.