It still has to be approved by the Iraqi President who is opposed to the death penalty.
However, in the past he has deferred to his Vice-Presidents who are not opposed to it, and allowed them to sign the official warrant, a practice which has been upheld as legal in the past.
But whether he will defer in this case is not yet known. It's Saddam's last chance to escape the gallows within a month.
Talabani said he is USUALLY opposed to the death penalty but supports it in Saddam's case, due to his extraordinary crimes.