DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Without fail, for 17 years, Zahra al-Jafer wore only black clothes.

Her wardrobe choice was to honor her husband, executed by Saddam Hussein's security forces after he defected from the Iraqi army. His family was forced to watch as he was killed.

On Wednesday, the black gowns were cast aside for brighter colors.Iraq's liberation seemed to be at hand, bringing with it new hope for Zahra al-Jafer and millions of other Iraqis.

''Today, my father has been born again,'' said her son, Salah al-Jafer, as at least 1,200 people took to the streets in celebration of what appeared to be the imminent demise of Saddam's regime.

Southeast Michigan is home to about 300,000 people of various Middle Eastern ethnicities; nearly 30,000, or 30 percent, of Dearborn's population claimed Arab ancestry in the latest census.

As images flashed on television of U.S. Marines and Iraqis toppling a 40-foot statue of Saddam in the center of Baghdad, many Iraqis in communities across the United States celebrated.

A minor scuffle was reported at the rally in Dearborn's Hemlock Park when a Washington D.C.-based Al-Jazeera television camera crew appeared at the rally. Police separated the crew and held the crowd, apparently upset about the networks' coverage of the war, at bay.