|
Official: Saddam Could Face Execution
Saddam Hussein could be tried "in the next few weeks" and could be executed if convicted, an Iraqi Governing Council member said Monday. Other council members said the televised trial would likely begin later, perhaps by summer.Summer would be good, nothing but re-runs on TV. The trial will begin "very soon, in the next few weeks," Mouwafak al-Rabii, a Shiite Muslim council member, told The Associated Press. He and other council members said they were sure the United States would hand Saddam over to the new Iraqi special tribunal for crimes against humanity, but differed on how soon a trial could be mounted against the former dictator. "I can tell you he is going to be the first," al-Rabii said. But Dara Noor al-Din, another council member, told AP that the order of trials would depend on the evidence. "Maybe he will be the first one, maybe he wonât," he said. Noor al-Din, a leading Kurdish judge, offered a more conservative estimate for the trial date: "Maybe four to six months." A third council member, Adnan Pachachi, said he expected the trial to start "sometime in March." That would still be close to the July 1 deadline for the U.S.-led occupation authority to hand over sovereignty to a new, transitional Iraqi government. The occupation authority has suspended executions in Iraq, but al-Rabii said it wouldnât take long for them to be reinstated - especially for Saddam. "All in favor, say "Aye"." "We will get sovereignty on the 30th of June, and I can tell you, he could be executed on the 1st of July," said al-Rabii, a longtime human rights activist. A real human rights activist. He said Saddam would have a fair trial, and that Saddam will have "the right to employ the best lawyers in the world, if he wants." All three council members said the trial would be televised. Goody, reality television at itâs best. I think July 1st is a bit optimistic for the execution, lotâs of evidence, motions, etc. Why the trial could run through all of July into August. Why donât we pencil the hanging in for 2 September? Heh heh heh. Posted by: Steve 2003-12-15 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=22768 |