Saddam should be executed if convicted: Shiite alliance
Associated Press
Baghdad, April 19, 2005
The largest political bloc in Iraq's new government has demanded the execution of Saddam Hussein if the ousted Iraqi leader is convicted of war crimes, saying President Jalal Talabani should step down if he is not prepared to sign the death warrant.
"This is something that cannot be discussed at all," said Ali al-Dabagh, a spokesman for the clergy-led United Iraqi Alliance, which holds 140 seats in Iraq's 275-member National Assembly. "We feel he is a criminal. He is the No. 1 criminal in the world. He is a murderer."
Talabani, a former Kurdish rebel leader, told the British Broadcasting Corp on Monday that signing a death warrant for Saddam would be contrary to his beliefs as a human rights advocate and opponent of capital punishment.
"I personally signed a call for ending execution throughout the world, and I'm respecting my signature," Talabani told the BBC.
Talabani conceded, however, that he was probably alone in the Government to hold this view.
"No one is listening to me, to be frank with you," he told BBC. "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."
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.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.