Is Saddam Hussein dead? 

Although I had no idea about it, apparently a few people thought exactly that. 

To prove that he wasn't, Saddam made a personal appearance in Baghdad.  Here's the story, from Sky News:

Saddam Hussein has been shown on Iraqi television, in an attempt to quash rumours of the Iraqi leader's demise.

The pictures showed Saddam at the head of the table for a meeting of the Iraqi cabinet, but there is no way of independently checking the date they were filmed.

A still photograph of the meeting was also released by the official Iraqi news agency.

On Wednesday rumours that Saddam had suffered a stroke or a heart attack spread like wildfire around the globe.

'Silly'

Iraqi officials called the reports "silly".

They were sparked by the unexplained blackout of a New Year's Eve parade which was being televised live on Iraqi television.

"All the world has seen how President Saddam Hussein stood for more than five hours greeting units of our brave army at the Al-Aqsa Call Parade," said Salam Khatab al-Nassiri, director-general of the Information Department of the Ministry of Culture and Information.

"These reports are so silly that they do not even deserve a reply," he added.

Saddam had not been seen in public since the parade when he was shown firing his gun into the air. Reports say he was taking the salute from his military when he collapsed.

Sure, Saddam could have actually died.  It is well known that he has doubles that pretend to be him in dangerous public appearances, so we could be looking at a Moon Over Parador situation. 

Stranger things have happened.  

Although I've never been one to hope for the death of another, I think I'd have to make an exception in this case.