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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Saddam Vows in Letter to Sacrifice Himself - For Palestine...no, really |
| 2005-08-21 |
| Caught via Capt Ed Facing trial soon on charges he massacred fellow Muslims, Saddam Hussein vowed in a letter published Sunday to sacrifice himself for the cause of Palestine and Iraq, and he urged Arabs to follow his path. to death The letter, published in two Jordanian newspapers, was delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross to a Saddam friend now living in Jordan. It was believed to be the first letter Saddam has sent to a non-family member since his capture by U.S. forces in December 2003. "My soul and my existence is to be sacrificed for our precious Palestine and our beloved, patient and suffering Iraq," the letter said. "it followed: 'yadda yadda yadda' in closing" Tayseer Homsi, secretary-general of the Jordanian Arab Baath Socialist Party, said the letter was delivered through the ICRC to an "independent Jordanian political figure who wished to remain anonymous." Rana Sidani, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross' Iraq delegation in Amman, confirmed that the organization delivered the letter that appeared in the newspapers. "The ICRC collected the message," she said. "It was censored by the detaining authorities before being handed over to the ICRC for distribution." Saddam is expected to stand trial in Iraq this fall on charges that could bring the death penalty. His letter appeared to include his musings on that possible fate. "Life is meaningless without the considerations of faith, love and inherited history in our nation," the letter said. "or ultimate power and killing, which I always enjoyed" he added impishly "It is not much for a man to support his nation with his soul and all he commands because it deserves it since it has given us life in the name of God and allowed us to inherit the best," he wrote in what appeared to be a clear call to Arabs to follow his footsteps. "My brother, love your people, love Palestine, love your nation, long live Palestine." The Jordanian Baath party, which publicized the letter and espouses ideology similar to Saddam's now-defunct Baath party, has no links to Iraq. Homsi, the party secretary-general, said the letter's recipient gave the party a copy of the letter two days ago. "The Jordanian man wished to remain anonymous. He's an old friend of Saddam, he's not a member of our party nor is he a party functionary," Homsi told The Associated Press. He declined to identify the man. Ad-Dustour and al Arab Al Yawm, Jordan's second- and third-largest daily newspapers, said the letter was given to them by Homsi's party at a press conference Saturday. The letter became public as Iraq geared up for a series of trials, the first beginning this fall, concerning Saddam's alleged role in the 1982 massacre of an estimated 150 Shiites in Dujail, north of Baghdad, in retaliation for an assassination attempt on the former leader. Saddam is a Sunni, and his minority sect ruled over majority Shiites, Kurds and other ethnic groups until he was ousted in April 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion. Others indicted in the Dujail massacre are Barazan Ibrahim, intelligence chief at the time and Saddam's half brother; former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan; and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, at the time a Baath party official in Dujail. The assassination attempt was organized by the Dawa Party, whose members include Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. In addressing his correspondent, Saddam said: "My brother, love your people, love Palestine, love your nation, long live Palestine." Also Sunday, Iraq criticized Jordan for allegedly allowing Saddam's family to fund an Iraqi network seeking to destabilize the country. The Iraqi rebuke appeared designed to blunt bad publicity for Iraq after Jordanian police detained an undetermined number of Iraqis and other foreign Arab suspects in the Friday rocket attack that barely missed a U.S. warship in Jordan's Red Sea resort of Aqaba. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #3 Set up a Video Camera, toss him a sharp knife and quote to him his statement on video. Then keep the video rolling as he weasels out of his sworn "Self Sacrifice" live and on camera. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-08-21 23:17 |
| #2 O.K. Go for it Saddam. I fail to see the problem. Seems more like part of the solution. |
| Posted by: Uleresh Gloting5095 2005-08-21 17:45 |
| #1 then why didn't he try and take a few with him when he was captured if he is such a martyr , as he sees himself? |
| Posted by: Thraing Hupoluper1864 2005-08-21 14:51 |