Posted on 09/26/2004 8:17:51 AM PDT by slimer
Iraqi Official: Saddam Will Be Executed
Stewart Stogel Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004
UNITED NATIONS - "Saddam will be executed, the Iraqi people demand it," so confessed an Iraqi official travelling with visiting interim prime minister Iyad Allawi.
Allawi has spent the past week visiting Washington and then moved on to NYC to address the 2004 U.N. General Assembly.
Several members of the Allawi delegation speaking on background, told NewsMax that pressure on the Allawi government to "move" on the Saddam issue has been growing, especially from Shiite religious quarters.
While no firm date has yet been set for the upcoming trial, Allawi insists such a proceeding will start before the end of the year.
The Iraqi proclamations contradict statements from unnamed U.S. sources in Baghdad who claim such a trial might take as "much as another year" to convene.
The U.S. sources say that instability inside Iraq and Saddam's failure to hire a legal defense team, make a trial in the near future "unlikely."
Allawi's representatives disagree.
The former Iraqi president remains under heavy U.S. guard in a secret location outside Baghdad since his capture near his hometown of Tikrit last December.
During an arraignment on July 1, Saddam told the presiding judge his overthrow and subsequent capture by Coalition forces was illegal and as such, any prospective trial would have no legal standing.
Ironically, none other than U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan recently told the BBC the U.S.-U.K. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was (in his opinion) "illegal."
Annan also confessed to the Mexican news agency, Notimex, that he did not feel any safer now than before the attacks of 9/11, despite the Coalition efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In addition to Saddam, Coalition forces also have former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz and vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan in custody.
The Fate of Aziz
The Iraqi diplomats in NYC explain that the "future" of the other former government officials "has not yet been decided." Aziz is likely to escape any serious punishment, however a more ominous fate may await Ramadan and others now in jail.
"Aziz is an old man...he did not know much about the crimes committed by Saddam," explained one official.
Published reports claim that Aziz, in Coalition custody for more than a year, has been trying "to cut a deal," so far without success.
Saddam's fate, according to Iraqi sources, seems to be tied with the growing influence of Shiite leader Grand Ayotollah Ali Husseini al Sistani.
Members of the Allawi entourage say the number and extent of atrocities against Iraq's Shiite community by Saddam, has left the interim government with little room to maneuver.
While firm numbers are not available, U.N. sources estimate that as many as 200,000 Shiites may have been massacred under Saddam's rule.
Hussein and his ruling circles, were Islamic Sunnis, a minority within Iraq, who went to extravagant measures to check Shiite influence.
Neighboring Iran is governed by Shiites.
Iran's late "spiritual" leader Ayotollah Khomeini, often referred to the Iraqi president as an "infidel" who should be executed.
Iran and Iraq engaged in a vicious cross-border war for more than 10 years. United Nations officials confirm that Saddam and his military resorted to the use of banned chemical weapons during the conflict. Over 500,000 people are believed to have been killed during the war, say U.N. officials.
Now, more than 20 years later, Ayotollah Khomeini may finally get his wish. While Iraqi officials express no uncertainty on Saddam's future, there is one wild card, Washington.It is unclear where the White House stands on the issue. Iraqi diplomats say so far, the Bush administration has kept a hands-off attitude.
But Saddam, known for his legendary skills as a survivor, might have a card up his sleeve. His old intelligence network is still intact, admits another Iraqi official. Washington needs better intelligence to combat the growing insurgency it now faces in the country.
Could Saddam and the U.S. cut a deal?
"I hope not," confided the Iraqi source..."but who knows?"
Ask again on November 3rd.
"After a fair trail"
Sounds like the incoherent hypocritical State Dept. is on the case sending confusing messages to the Iraqis.
They want Saddam dead - let them kill him, and get out of the way while shutting the phuck up.
*ouch*
Koffee Kup shouldn't feel any safer. Not with him and Demitasse Kup both skimming off the food program. They should be tried along with Saddam.
So "Saddam's failure to hire a legal defense team" is dragging out the setting of a trial date. How cute of him.
This morning I woke up with a dream about Saddam and Sadr. In my dream, it seemed evident (to me) that the sooner Saddam assumes room temperature, the sooner the Sadr forces will be eliminated. In the dream, the two were connected, even though Sadr is not Iraqi. The "message" was that Sadr and his band of madmen are Saddam loyalists and would continue until Saddam is dead.
Strange dream.
Yeah. Tell us where the WMD's are, and where all the Oil-For-Food money is, and we'll make your death quick and painless.
Deal?
I hope they put panties on his head before they do it.
Cut his throat.
1st Debate
Mr. Kerry: Do you support the death penalty?
Panties are painless.
Ridiculous.
Aziz has been working with Saddam for many years, since before the Gulf War, and was certainly not as old then. He knew exactly what was going on.
If they would just shoot him, I'd offer to buy the bullets.
Ya know? They could hold a lottery for places on the firing squad. Prolly raise enough money to pay off the national debt...
What kind of a deal could they make? Any deal between Saddam and the U.S would undermine the authority of the new Iraqi government and create the appearance that the U.S. is running the show in Iraq. I think that we want to project the idea that Iraq is making the decisions and the U.S is playing a supporting roll by assisting them in providing security until the Iraqis are capable of providing their own security.
Whoever lives by the industrial shredder should die by the industrial shredder, I always say.
Right. And John Kerry has made it perfectly clear that he is willing to do just that if he thinks it is to his political advantage.
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