Many Long Islanders saw Sunday?s guilty verdict and death sentence for Saddam Hussein as a positive step toward rebuilding Iraq.

An Iraqi court found Hussein guilty of crime against humanity for the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims in one town in 1982. The trial closed after nearly nine months and an automatic appeal is expected to take longer.

Hasim el Zanaty of the Islamic Center of Long Island says the death sentence will send a message to all dictators around the world that their wrongdoings will catch up to them. U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) says violence should be expected from Hussein?s fellow Sunnis, but he adds the trial was needed to move a war-torn Iraq forward.