SHIA militiamen clad in black mounted the rooftops of Dujail, a small farming town, 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Baghdad. In 1982, in the town’s orange orchards, 148 of its men were killed after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein. Yesterday they gripped their guns afraid of reprisals from Saddam’s followers.

About 40 people congratulated each other for 15 minutes near the offices of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. But the atmosphere was sombre and no one fired a gun in celebration. Then people closed the shutters on the windows of their homes, and braced themselves for the worst.

A curfew was placed across Baghdad, Dujail’s province of Salahaddin and the neighboring province of Diyala, but it was of little comfort. Residents were counting on Sadr’s Mahdi Army to protect them, and worried that even that wouldn’t be enough. Dujail is surrounded by Sunni communities and the area has gradually become a battleground for Sunni and Shia extremists since Saddam was ousted in April 2003.

Seven or eight Dujailis who testified in the trial against Saddam have been attacked in the past year, according to Bassam Ridha, an adviser to Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister.

Sheikh Mohammed Khazraji told The Times: “100 families have left the town because they are afraid of revenge attacks.” Last week Sheikh Khazraji said that 20 men from Dujail had been kidnapped on the dangerous roads near the town.

He added that pamphlets had been distributed in the community threatening residents. He viewed the Dujail trial as a mixed blessing.

Firdus Mohammed, 47, whose brother was killed during Saddam’s 1980s crackdown against the town, said that she was happy about the verdict but afraid of what would come next. “We have received death threats. Saddam’s execution will not end the violence in Iraq,” she said.

Other families of the victims were ambivalent. Abu Karaa lost his father during Saddam’s reprisals over Dujail and was savouring justice. But though he smiled, he had paid a steep price. “My son was kidnapped on October 11 near Dujail. Some people accused us of testifying against Saddam, but I didn’t do that. They called us by the phone and said you tes tified in court. I said no, I didn’t.”

Abu Karaa said that he had no idea what was in store for his 20-year-old son, or what would befall him after the tribunal’s judgment. Still he said: “This is the happiest day in my life.”

In contrast, in Tikrit, Saddam’s home town, about a thousand of his followers fired guns and vowed to seek the blood of Iraqi Shias and US soldiers.

Some policemen and many people holding pictures of Saddam aloft marched down main streets chanting: “We will avenge you, Saddam.” The angry crowd had defied a curfew imposed by the Iraqi Government on Tikrit.

If the Shia celebrated the prospect of Saddam’s execution, his Sunni brethren were furious and took the verdict as proof of a conspiracy against them. Many vowed to take revenge on Dujailand and those who had testified against Saddam.

“He is Iraq’s legal president. We knew this would happen from the moment the court started,” said Sheikh Yahya al-Attar. His mood was matched by others in the crowd, who loath Baghdad’s Shia-dominated government and deny that Saddam had committed any crimes against the Iraqi people.

One man, Sheikh Ahmed Jabouri, said: “There will be more than 300 to 400 Americans killed in the next month. It will be the beginning of a civil war if they execute him.”

A cousin of Saddam’s on his mother’s side, named Bakr Khatab, started to weep. He demanded that his relative be freed and vowed Sunni insurgents would hold a conference to campaign for his release. Bakr Khatab said: “We admit that we support and fund the Iraqi resistance.”

Like the other demonstrators, he issued a warning that Saddam’s execution would only enflame Iraq’s communal strife. “It will open the doors to a big civil war. We will not leave the country in hands of the Shia and Iran.”

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?