A Vicksburg soldier on Christmas leave from a year’s deployment in Iraq emphasized Friday night that Saddam Hussein’s execution was carried out by the new Iraqi justice system on behalf of the Iraqi people.

First Sgt. Steven W. Rowland, who is serving in a senior administrative post in Baghdad, said he had not sensed among the Iraqi people any special anticipation of the execution.

&#8220Obviously there are going to be some people who are excited and happy and some that are not,” Rowland said Friday.

&#8220The best thing we can do,” Rowland said, &#8220is just be like how we are now, an observer as to letting the justice system of Iraq work and to show the people that they have a democracy that is willing to take care of people who commit crimes in their country.”

Rowland, 44, is serving with the Vicksburg-based 412th Engineer Command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He holds a senior administrative post that is like the mayor or vice-mayor of his compound, he said.

Rowland said he did not attend any of the trial of Hussein but that opportunities existed for some U.S. service personnel to do so.

&#8220I know of a few people who did go,” Rowland said.

He said he and others from the United States in Baghdad have been keeping up with developments in the Saddam trial by watching such international news outlets as CNN and Fox News Network.

Rowland said he has been in Iraq about eight months and that much progress in the Corps’ ongoing effort to help rebuild the country has been made during that time.

&#8220Projects are still going full-speed,” Rowland said. &#8220Everything’s looking good over there. But there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”