Posted on 12/29/2006 2:39:42 AM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's lawyers have been asked to pick up his personal effects but Iraq's Justice Ministry denied it had taken custody of the former president and dismissed a U.S. suggestion he would hang as early as Saturday.
One defense lawyer, who declined to be identified, said Saddam had been handed over by U.S. forces to Iraqi government custody. U.S. military spokesmen said they had nothing to add to a statement late on Thursday that he was still in their control.
Asked about comments from the defense lawyer that Saddam had been handed over, Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim told Reuters: "This is not true. He is still with the Americans."
He also dismissed a remark by a senior U.S. official who said there were plans to send Saddam to the gallows as early as Saturday. The ministry, which is in charge of implementing court rulings, would not execute Saddam before January 26, he said.
Khalil al-Dulaimi, who led Saddam's defense team until he was sentenced on November 5, told Reuters: "The Americans called me and asked me to pick up the personal effects."
On Thursday, Saddam was allowed to see two of his half-brothers, who are also in detention at a U.S. base near Baghdad. A lawyer said the former president was in high spirits.
U.S. military and embassy spokesmen dealing with the issue said they had nothing to add to a statement late on Thursday which said Saddam was still in U.S. custody and stressed the need for secrecy over arrangements for security reasons.
Although legally in Iraqi custody, U.S. troops physically keep guard over Saddam. And although Iraqis will carry out the execution, U.S. and Iraqi officials say, it seems likely U.S. forces will stay on hand throughout for fear that opponents of the former leader could turn it into a public spectacle.
Iraqi officials backed away on Thursday from suggestions they would definitely hang him within a month, in line with a 30-deadline set out in the statues of the tribunal. A cabinet minister told Reuters a week-long religious holiday ending only on January 7 would stall any execution.
HAPPY TO BE A MARTYR
Saddam's lawyer said he bade farewell to two of his half brothers on Thursday in a rare prison meeting.
"He was in very high spirits and clearly readying himself," Badie Aref, a defense lawyer, told Reuters after the 69-year-old former leader met half-brothers Watban and Sabawi, who are also both held at the U.S. army's Camp Cropper near Baghdad airport.
"He told them he was happy he would meet his death at the hands of his enemies and be a martyr, not just languish in jail.
The novelty of the U.S.-sponsored process by which Saddam and his third half-brother Barzan, along with another senior member of the Baath party, were condemned on November 5 has left considerable room for wrangling over the timing of any execution among rival factions and between Washington and Baghdad.
"It's none of the Americans' business to decide when," one justice ministry official said on Friday.
Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had previously said he wanted Saddam hanged this year for the killings, torture and other crimes against fellow Shi'ites in the town of Dujail.
But some of Saddam's fellow Sunnis have warned this could reinforce their community's alienation and many ethnic Kurds want Saddam first convicted of genocide against them in a second trial that is still underway.
Saddam is due back in court in that trial on January 8.
Iraq's Saddam-era penal code bars executions on religious holidays. Eid al-Adha holiday, which follows the annual haj pilgrimage to Mecca, runs until January 7 in Iraq.
Nonetheless, the U.S. official in the United States said Saddam could be hanged within days: "I've heard that it's going to be a couple more days, probably."
(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Dubai, Ibon Villelabeitia in Baghdad)
But he's not a player in America's struggle. We're in an ideological, philosophical and religious battle with Islam, not every self-appointed despot who has a history of brutality. He's become nothing more than a footnote to the wider and resurgent Islamic belligerence.
If truth be told, I bet bin Laden and Zawahiri think we've done them a favor by removing this guy and allowing Islamic radicals to call the shots in Iraq.
Then you are a fool.
What exactly do you envisage this execution accomplishing?
what did u do, get up on the wrong side of the rock?
I would appreciate a proper answer, I'm not one of your A$$hole friends....
#193
His hanging will be a day of rejoicing for many in his country. A small win for the people he brutally murdered.
Hope this is a sign that we are going to ramp up our efforts in Baghdad too. Time to kill the madmen who are killing innocent people.
He seems to be taking this pretty well. But if he thinks his 72 virgins are waiting in heaven, he has one big surprise coming to him. 72 fallen angels in hell, yes.
I would appreciate a proper answer, I'm not one of your A$$hole friends....
What the heck are you talking about? The point is if people avoid doing anything because it will irritate a muslim then nothing will ever get done. Who cares what muslims like or hate?
And you're correct - you aren't one of my A$$hole friends - I'm not sure whose A$$hole friend you are, but you apparently aren't mine.
Hope that helps. Have a nice day.
"He told them he was happy he would meet his death at the hands of his enemies and be a martyr, not just languish in jail."
Tell him we're happy also. ^_~
Ditto.
Ditto.
Thank you kindly TET1968.
A BIG ditto.
"I know that Saddam is a bad guy and has blood on his hands.
But he's not a player in America's struggle."
I strongly disagree with your statement.
LOL!
because
Thanks for the alert.
It is time to go forward, and it is fitting to put an end to this nightmare, I will be glad when it is over and the future can be dealt with.
God Bless you and Thank You.
Why bother with the Lord of the Rings. Read John's Revelation and note now a demon army will be released from beneath the Euphrates.
Of course a normal trial doesn't see the judges and lawyers, on both sides, under constant threat of death. As to a quick verdict, I thought the trial took an awful long time, with lots of weeks long "recesses". I was impressed with the speed of the appeals though. Ours should be so expeditious.
In other words he needs killing.
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