BAGHDAD, Iraq — Radios and TVs blared birthday songs, as telegrams wishing President Saddam Hussein a happy 64th birthday poured in from across Iraq on Saturday, in a lavish display of loyalty for a leader who has ruled unchallenged for 22 years.
The government-sponsored festivities have been held every year since 1985, despite the hardships suffered under more than a decade of U.N. economic sanctions, imposed following Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
New murals and portraits of Saddam bedecked the capital for the occasion and government buildings and schools, wrapped in posters and banners, played host to singers and poets trumpeting the achievements of the Iraqi leader. Iraqis singing birthday songs cruised the streets in cars flying the Iraqi flag.
"The president is our beloved. He is the only leader who can liberate Palestine," said Kamal Salim, 30, a Baghdad resident.
"We love him, because he cares for Iraqis well," another resident, Saad Muhsin, 46, said.
The most opulent festivities were reserved for Saddam's birthplace at Tikrit, 100 miles north of Baghdad, where he was born to a poor family on April 28, 1937. Troupes of singers and dancers from Lebanon, who have been touring the country since Wednesday, joined Baghdad-based diplomats attending the celebration.
People danced to traditional Arab and Kurdish songs, while groups marched carrying banners expressing love and a long life for the president. A group of young men burned the Israeli flag and called for the liberation of Palestine.
Saddam did not go to Tikrit. Instead, he received Iraqi orphans and pupils who sang and danced, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. Usually, such ceremonies are held at one of his Baghdad palaces, though the state media did not say where it took place.
"After the end of children's performances, the president lit a candle and cut the birthday cake to the delight of the children who prayed to God to save their dear president," the agency reported.
Saddam used the occasion to criticize the leaders of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In comments broadcast Tuesday night on state-run television, he called on the people of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to "revolt using all available methods."
Earlier in the week, parliament speaker Sadoun Hammadi presented Saddam with a birthday sword "to lead the just people's march to liberate Palestine."
The growing number of impoverished Iraqis will be treated to mutton and cakes served up in tents set up across the country.
Iraq says the 11 years of crippling U.N. sanctions, imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, have resulted in deaths of 1.5 million people because of shortages of food and medicine.