BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's most powerful Shiite bloc wants Saddam Hussein put to death if he is convicted of war crimes by a special tribunal, and the interim president should resign if he refuses to sign the execution order, an alliance spokesman told The Associated Press on Monday.
Ali al-Dabagh, a lawmaker from the clergy-led United Iraq Alliance, which received the most votes in Jan. 30 national elections, said everyone in his party believes Saddam should be sentenced to death if convicted of war crimes against Iraqis.
"We feel he is a criminal. He is the No. 1 criminal in the world. He is a murderer," al-Dabagh said in an interview with The Associated Press. "He deserves a trial, and he should be subjected to the law and the court. Whatever the decision, everyone should follow it, even if the president says he cannot sign it." | "Hangin's too good for 'im. Burnin's too good for 'im. He should be torn into little bisty pieces and buried alive!" |
The alliance controls 140 seats in Iraq's 275-member National Assembly.
In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. on Monday, incoming Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said signing a death warrant for Saddam would go against his beliefs as a human rights advocate and opponent of capital punishment. He said he may abstain from signing any such document and leave the decision to his two deputies.
"I can go to holiday and let the two others decide. I personally signed a call for ending execution throughout the world. And I'm respecting my signature," Talabani told the BBC. "This is one of my problems ... No one is listening to me, to be frank with you. My two partners in the presidency, the government, the House, all of them are for sentencing Saddam Hussein to death before the court will decide. So, I think I will be alone in this field." | Except for the entire looney left, that is. |
Al-Dabagh, a member of the Shiite majority long oppressed under Saddam's rule, said Saddam's execution was not negotiable. "This is something that cannot be discussed at all. If the court says he's a criminal, we will follow it," al-Dabagh said. "He (Talabani) is now the president, and he should follow the law. If he doesn't want to sign it, then he should resign the presidency."
Saddam was captured north of Baghdad in December 2003 and has been in custody with several of his top henchmen at a U.S.-guarded detention facility near Baghdad's international airport. Saddam and his top lieutenants will be tried before the Iraqi Special Tribunal established in late 2003. The tribunal has given no official dates for starting the trials, although national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said earlier this month that Saddam could go on trial by the end of the year.
The death penalty was reintroduced in Iraq in August 2004 for crimes including murder, endangering national security and drug trafficking. But it is only meant to be a temporary measure in the effort to stamp out the country's insurgency. |