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| Iraq |
| 14 suspects face justice for crushing Saddam-era Sadr City uprising |
| 2008-06-11 |
| (VOI) - Iraqi Central Criminal Court (ICCC) on Tuesday announced 14 suspects would be tried on charges of crushing the “Sadr City uprising” that erupted after the assassination of the Shiite cleric Mohammed Saqid al-Sadr in 1999. “14 suspects will be brought to court on July 21 for crushing the popular uprising in Sadr City in 1999 following the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohamed Sadiq al-Sadr,” Judge Muneer Haddad, investigation judge for the ICCC, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). The judge noted the “major suspects include Tariq Aziz, former deputy prime minister of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Hussein’s step brothers Watban al-Hassan and Sabawi al-Hassan, in addition to Ugla Sagar, regional commander of the Baath party and Sabir Aziz al-Douri, former chief of military intelligence.” Sadr City, the sprawling Shiite slum, saw an uprising staged by the followers of top cleric Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr following the assassination of the pontiff in Najaf 1999 while he was returning home at the hands of the former Iraqi intelligence. Saddam Hussein’s security forces and Baath party members intervened to crush the uprising near al-Muhsin and al-Hikma mosques, killing scores of al-Sadr followers. Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is the son of the assassinated Mohamed Sadiq al-Sadr, and inherited his father’s legacy and his broad-based support of followers. |
| Posted by:Fred |