Saddam close to gallows
BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials finalised plans on Friday for the execution of Saddam Hussein amid reports the deposed leader could be killed within hours and fears of an insurgent backlash once he hangs.
An Iraqi judge who has been asked to witness the execution, Moneer Haddad, told reporters on Friday that he had been put on standby for a hanging that could take place “maybe tonight or tomorrow”.
And Sami al-Askari, a member of Iraq’s main Shia parliamentary bloc and a consultant to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said: “All documents relating to the implementation of the execution are compiled and ready.”
“Saddam has only a very short time ahead of the implementation of the execution. The execution will be either before dawn on Saturday, or immediately after the Eid holiday,” Askari said.
Maliki himself told the families of some of the ousted president’s victims that Saddam would be put to death without delay, as US authorities scrapped a visit to the deposed leader by his defence lawyers.
“According to information in our possession, Saddam will be executed at dawn on Saturday,” said one of Saddam’s lawyers who asked not to be identified, adding: “The gallows is ready.”