The authorities began arresting alleged conspirators shortly thereafter, including twelve Jewish men from Baghdad and Basra.
[1] By 1969, Iraq's Jewish community had shrunk from more than 130,000 in 1948 to less than 3,000 due to mass emigration caused by the establishment of the State of Israel, the subsequent Arab-Israeli wars, and anti-Jewish persecution.
[1] Baghdad Radio invited citizens to Liberation Square on January 27 to "come and enjoy the feast",[3] being brought in on buses.
[1] The executions led to significant international criticism,[4][5] with United States Secretary of State William P. Rogers condemning Iraq's actions as "repugnant to the conscience of the world"[6] and Egypt's Al-Ahram cautioning: "The hanging of fourteen people in the public square is certainly not a heart-warming sight, nor is it the occasion for organizing a spectacle."
By contrast, the Soviet Union's official radio called the executions "fully justified," while Charles de Gaulle of France said they could not be divorced from the broader Arab–Israeli conflict.