国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

   

Iraqi TV: Saddam hanged; US forces on alert

(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-12-30 06:21

BAGHDAD - US-backed Iraqi television station Al Hurra said Saddam Hussein had been executed by hanging shortly before 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Saturday.

The former Iraqi president ousted in April 2003 by a US-led invasion was convicted in November of crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ite villagers from Dujail after a failed assassination bid in 1982.

An appeals court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday. Iraq's government has kept details of its plans to conduct the execution completely secret amid concerns it could spark a violent backlash from his former supporters.


Saddam Hussein attends the third day of his trial for genocide against Kurds in the 1980s, in Baghdad in this August 23, 2006 file photo.[Reuters]

The witnesses to Saddam Hussein's impending execution gathered Friday in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in final preparation for his hanging, as state television broadcast footage of his regime's atrocities.

A top Iraqi official said Saddam will be executed before 6 a.m. Saturday, Baghdad time, or 10 p.m. Friday EST.

A key court official said Iraq's government had told him to be ready to attend the hanging of Saddam Hussein between 5.30 a.m. and 6 a.m. (0230-0300 GMT) on Saturday, according to Reuters' latest report.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he had been sworn to secrecy, told Reuters a government official telephoned to tell him he would be taken to the place of execution in time for 5.30. The court official is among those who must, by law, attend any execution.

Related readings:

 Pentagon: US forces on high alert Saddam still in US custody
  US preparing for Saddam's execution Saddam bids family farewell, hanging date unclear
 Saddam lawyer seeks mercy
 Iraq prepares for Saddam execution  Saddam says faces death without fear, urges unity
 Saddam sentence is just 'political show,' analysts say
 Saddam calls for coexistence
 Iraq court upholds Saddam's death penalty

The Iraqi government readied all the necessary documents, including a "red card" - an execution order introduced during Saddam's dictatorship. As the hour of his death approached, Saddam received two of his half brothers in his cell on Thursday and was said to have given them his personal belongings and a copy of his will.

Najeeb al-Nueimi, a member of Saddam's legal team in Doha, Qatar, said he too requested a final meeting with the deposed Iraqi leader. "His daughter in Amman was crying, she said 'Take me with you,'" al-Nueimi said late Friday. But he said their request was rejected.

Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld Saddam's death sentence, said he was ready to attend the hanging and that all the paperwork was in order, including the red card.

"Saddam will be executed today or tomorrow," Haddad said. "All the measures have been done. ... There is no reason for delays."

As American and Iraqi officials planned to meet in Baghdad to set the hour of his death, Saddam's lawyers asked a US judge for a stay of execution.

The physical transfer of Saddam from US to Iraqi authorities was believed to be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged.

"We have agreed with the Americans that the handover will take place only a few minutes before he is executed," a senior Iraqi government official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Al-Nueimi said US authorities were maintaining physical custody of Saddam to prevent him from being humiliated before his execution. He said the Americans also want to prevent the mutilation of his corpse, as has happened to other deposed Iraqi leaders.

"The Americans want him to be hanged respectfully," al-Nueimi said. If Saddam is humiliated publicly or his corpse ill-treated "that could cause an uprising and the Americans would be blamed," he said.

Saddam's lawyers issued a statement Friday calling on "everybody to do everything to stop this unfair execution." The statement also said the former president had been transferred from US custody, though American and Iraqi officials later denied that.
1234  


Related Stories  
Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
牙克石市| 同心县| 上蔡县| 武宣县| 治县。| 栾川县| 文成县| 乐亭县| 龙陵县| 九龙坡区| 项城市| 桐庐县| 承德市| 岗巴县| 丹江口市| 桐城市| 石景山区| 麟游县| 莱州市| 廊坊市| 丘北县| 滕州市| 塔城市| 梁山县| 同德县| 罗源县| 石屏县| 鞍山市| 广东省| 元朗区| 庐江县| 米脂县| 浦东新区| 永仁县| 杭锦旗| 桂东县| 萨迦县| 肇东市| 信阳市| 陇川县| 高尔夫|