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)
['This monster is dead. Finally."] Thank you dear (((***TexKat***)))
He *DID* spend the rest of his life in jail!
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I see Canadians as allies, and are paying a price for it. Freedom is not free. |
Who gets his Sony Play Station????
I always feel safe. Thanks to Sam Colt.
And you know, when a genocidal tyrant bites the dust, I celebrate.
And you miss the fact that Maliki is starting to move, and next it is the disassemby of the Mahdhi Army of Muqtada al Sad'r.
And our president shows no sign of weakening on staying in Iraq.
I am surprised that so many have become "Iraq Light" and want to abandon Iraqis to the tender mercies of a Shia Theocracy, which will mean war between the Saudis and Iran.
And you will certainly pay a lot more for your gas and oil.
Good for President Bush. He is in charge.
Hurrah!!
I have not missed the parallels between the current trajectory of modern events and the Lord of the Rings.Mythology often teaches us how to see things quite accurately. Another predictive myth is that of Shambhala and the Kulika Kings, which predicts that the last king of Shambhala will sally forth against the leader of the Muslim World, called Rudrachakrin. And Rudrachakrin is defeated, utterly.
So we have to understand that the Democrats, Socialist liberals of the West are really the dupes of Sauron. And they will likely die by the millions before this is done. Those of us who will fight and stay righteous, will eventually enjoy a free and peaceful world, or die bringing it about. Like you I have no intention of selling out to the liberal socialists or their RINO counterparts.I will not be seduced by the whispers of personal power and a placatory peace with the Trolls of Islam, and their monster running dogs.
My place will be at the side of Legolas, and my sword sharp and unyielding.Bring on every Muslim Orc you can find. I am quite ready.
One of the most profound quotes I have noticed recently is in Braveheart, where Malcolm Wallace says to young William: "It is our wits that make us men."
Too many men think with the appendage at the wrong end of the spinal column and like Bill Clinton, Mark Foley, Barney Frank, et.al. They are worthless to us in war. Their apologists and enablers are also worthless, because their deviant minds are never really clear.
A fancy Madison Avenue designer label is not going to help. (You know what I mean.)
E coli?
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