Saddam says `goodbye' to countrymen

BAGHDAD–Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to embrace "brotherly coexistence" and not to hate U.S.-led foreign troops in a goodbye letter posted on a website yesterday, a day after Iraq's highest court upheld his death sentence and ordered him hanged within 30 days.

A top Iraqi government official, meanwhile, said Saddam's execution could proceed without the approval of Iraq's president, meaning there were no more legal obstacles to sending Saddam to the gallows.

One of Saddam's lawyers, Issam Ghazzawi, said the former dictator wrote the letter Nov. 5 – the day he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal for ordering the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail.

"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," said the letter, which was written in Arabic.

"I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us," it added, referring to the invasion that toppled his regime nearly four years ago.

Against the backdrop of sectarian killings that have dragged Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims into civil warfare over the past year, Saddam urged his countrymen to "remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness and brotherly coexistence."

But he also voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen." He urged Iraqis to be patient and rely on God's help in fighting "against the unjust nations."

Saddam said he was giving his life for his country as part of that struggle. "Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs."

Despite his calls for conciliation among Iraqis, Saddam's legacy is brutal. He put suspected foes to death without trial, oppressed Kurds and Shiites, waged war on Iran and twice fought U.S.-led armies. He left an impoverished nation now gripped by sectarian bloodshed and an insurgency against the U.S. presence.

Violence struck Baghdad again yesterday, with a car bomb killing eight civilians and wounding 10 near an Iraqi army checkpoint. Four more civilians died in a mortar attack in a Shiite neighbourhood, and police found the bodies of 51 apparent victims of sectarian killings.

Questions had arisen about whether the appeal court's ruling needed to be approved by the Iraqi presidency, which customarily signs off on death sentences. But Busho Ibrahim, deputy justice minister, said approval wasn't necessary.

A spokesman for President Jalal Talabani acknowledged the legal argument that the execution could go ahead without ratification by the president, who has expressed opposition to the death penalty.

"Some people believe there is no need for his approval," spokesman Hiwa Osman said. "We still have to hear from the court as to how the procedure can be carried out."

An official from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party said "the government wants Saddam executed as soon as possible." Another official close to al-Maliki said the execution would take place before the end of the 30-day period.

Saddam will remain in a U.S. military prison near the airport, Camp Cropper, until the day of the execution, at which point he will be handed over to Iraqi authorities, the official said.

Ghazzawi, the defence lawyer, said Saddam's letter was published yesterday on the website of Saddam's former Baath Party.

The deposed leader said he was writing the letter because his lawyers had told him the Iraqi High Tribunal that tried his case would give him an opportunity to say a final word.

"But that court and its chief judge did not give us the chance to say a word, and issued its verdict without explanation and read out the sentence – dictated by the invaders – without presenting the evidence," Saddam wrote. "Dear faithful people," he added, "I say goodbye to you, but I will be with the merciful God who helps those who take refuge in him and who will never disappoint any honest believer."

Some Saddam loyalists threatened to retaliate if he is executed, warning in a posting on the same website that they would target U.S. interests.

"The Baath and the resistance are determined to retaliate, with all means and everywhere, to harm America and its interests if it commits this crime," the statement said, referring to Baath fighters as "the resistance." The Baath Party was disbanded after U.S.-led forces overthrew Saddam in 2003. The website is believed to be run from Yemen, where some exiled members of the party are based.

Saddam is in the midst of another trial, charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated 180,000 Kurds died during the operation. That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. command reported three American military deaths yesterday, bringing the U.S. death toll for December to 93 in one of the bloodiest months for U.S. troops this year.

Iraq hangs 13 for rape, homicide
Big News Network (UPI)
Wednesday 20th December, 2006

Thirteen people convicted of crimes such as rape, homicide and burning bodies were executed by hanging, the Iraqi prime minister's office said.

The minister's office, in a statement, said the sentences were carried after investigations were competed and confessions taken according to judicial procedure, CNN said Wednesday.

One person executed confessed to killing four members of one family, the statement said, while another confessed to killing 10 people. Another person executed said in his confession that he couldn't remember the number of people he killed because there were too many, the statement added.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 2004 in Iraq, 64 people have been hanged. Another 150 people are on death row, officials said.

http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/221660/cs/1/

Now that Saddam is going to be hanged anytime now, let us ask ourselves this question.

What has caused Saddam to fall out of favor with the Americans? After all, he was allied with the Americans back in the '80s against our common enemy, Iran.

It was probably due to the fact that Saddam viewed himself as the modern day "Saladin" who would one day rule all over the Middle East, establishing a caliph.

Also, Saddam's close advisors were not allowed to tell him the truth of what was really going on in the World, fearing that they would be tortured for being "disloyal". So right until the very end, Saddam did not fear that the Americans were going to check his growing power in the Middle East and gambled incorrectly that America was a "paper tiger".

If Saddam had learned his lesson after being too arrogant at the end of Iraq-Iran war, and stopped being threatening to Kuwait, things could had ben very, very different.

Saddam's lawyer urges world to block his handover to Iraqi authorities

BAGHDAD, Iraq Saddam Hussein's lawyer is calling on world leaders to stop the U-S from handing him over to Iraqi authorities.

Saddam was sentenced to death for the 1982 killings of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail (doo-ZHAYL'). Iraq's high court rejected an appeal of the conviction and sentence on Tuesday, saying the former Iraqi leader should be hanged within 30 days.

An official close to Iraq's prime minister has said that Saddam will remain in U-S custody until the day of his execution.

Today, lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi (kah-LEEL' ahl-doo-LAY'-mee) is insisting that Saddam is a prisoner of war, and international conventions forbid him from being handed over to those he described as Saddam's adversaries. He also warned that turning over Saddam would increase the sectarian violence in Iraq.

http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5865856&nav=2aKD

Saddam's Death To Be Videotaped

CBS News: Final Moments Will Be Recorded, Could Happen By End Of Month

(CBS News) BAGHDAD Saddam Hussein's final moments will be videotaped by the Iraqi government, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston. National Security adviser Mouffak al Rubaie says the date of the deposed dictator's execution will not be made public, to avoid possible unrest from Saddam's supporters, but everything from the signing of the final orders by the judge, to the hanging itself will be recorded.

Iraqis, members of the coalition, and international representatives will witness the execution. It's not clear whether the videotape will be broadcast on Iraqi television.

An Iraqi government official says efforts are under way to carry out the death sentence by the end of this month, indicating that they want to do the execution before the Muslim celebration of Eid, which coincides with the New Year.

Saddam's chief lawyer urged the United States on Thursday not to hand over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities before his expected execution because he is a "war prisoner."

A top Vatican official condemned the death sentence against Saddam Hussein in a newspaper interview published Thursday, acknowledging the crimes of the ousted Iraqi leader but reiterating that capital punishment goes against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Human Rights Watch, an international watchdog group, says Saddam Hussein was certainly a human rights violator, but Iraq's government shouldn't execute him. "The true test of respect for human rights comes when the human rights of someone who has violated in unspeakable ways the human rights of many millions of people comes into play," said the group's Richard Dicker.

Lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi called on international and legal organizations including the Arab League and United Nations to "rapidly prevent" the Americans from handing Saddam to the Iraqis.

"According to the international conventions it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 people who were detained after an attempt to assassinate him in the northern Iraqi city of Dujail in 1982. The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days.

Saddam is being held at Camp Cropper, an American military prison close to Baghdad's airport. The U.S. military has had Saddam Hussein in its custody, on behalf of the Iraqis, since his capture.

An official close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that Saddam would remain in a U.S. military prison until he is handed over to Iraqi authorities on the day of his execution. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Al-Dulaimi warned that turning over Saddam to the Iraqis would increase the sectarian violence that already is tearing the country apart.

"If the American administration insists in handing the president to the Iraqis, it would commit a great strategic mistake which would lead to the escalation of the violence in Iraq and the eruption of a destructive civil war," he said.

Issam Ghazzawi, another member of Saddam's defense team, said there was no way of knowing when Saddam's execution would take place.

"The only person who can predict the execution of the president ... is God and Bush," Ghazzawi said on Thursday.

In a goodbye letter posted on the Internet on Wednesday, Saddam urged Iraqis to embrace "brotherly coexistence" and not to hate the U.S.-led troops.

"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," said the letter.

Saddam is in the midst of another trial, charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated 180,000 Kurds died during the operation. That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, and experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.

Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI's top prelate for justice issues and a former Vatican envoy to the United Nations, said that Saddam's execution would punish "a crime with another crime" and expressed hope that the sentence would not be carried out.

In the interview with Rome daily La Repubblica, Martino reiterated the Vatican's staunch opposition to the death penalty, saying that life must be safeguarded from its beginning to its "natural" end.

"The death penalty is not a natural death. And no one can give death, not even the State," he said.

http://cbs13.com/topstories/topstories_story_362104657.html

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