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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Saddam may escape noose in deal to halt insurgency |
| 2005-04-11 |
| Too bad if it happens, he would have hanged very nicely. By Adrian Blomfield in Baghdad Saddam Hussein could avoid the gallows under a secret proposal by insurgent leaders that Iraq's new administration is "seriously considering", a senior government source said yesterday. A reprieve is understood to be among the central demands of Sunni nationalists and former members of Saddam's Ba'ath party who have reportedly begun negotiations with the government amid the backdrop of a bloody insurgency which claimed 30 lives during the weekend. Officials say they are looking for a way of joining the political process after January's election, which was boycotted by most of the once-powerful Sunni minority. "We are trying to reach out to the insurgents," the source said. "We don't expect them to stop fighting unconditionally. Sending Saddam to prison for the rest of his life is not a huge price for us to pay, but it will save them a lot of face." The official said those involved in the negotiations included senior members of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and the Jaish Mohammed, a grouping of former army officers that operates under the guise of an Islamist organisation. But it is unclear if those at the talks genuinely represent a majority of the deeply fragmented insurgency. While a deal could represent an important step towards ending the violence that has plagued postwar Iraq, a reprieve for Saddam would infuriate many in the country. He is unlikely to come to trial before the end of this year, but Jalal Talabani, Iraq's new president, has already begun to prepare his people for a possible reprieve. Asked about the fate of Saddam in an interview yesterday in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, the president, who is a Kurd, stated his personal opposition to a death sentence. "I am among the lawyers who signed an international petition against the death penalty around the world and it would be a problem for me if Iraqi courts issued death sentences," he said. Though Mr Talabani's powers are largely ceremonial, he has the power, as the head of a three-man presidential council, to commute death sentences. The two vice presidents that make up the remainder of the council, Ghazi al Yawar, a Sunni, and Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shia, have not stated their positions. Further demonstrating his determination for a political settlement to the insurgency, Mr Talabani proposed an amnesty for fighters last week. But al-Qa'eda's wing in Iraq, which is led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, yesterday rejected the offer and dismissed Mr Talabani as an American "agent". Though they regard Mr Talabani as a hero, many Kurds said they opposed any plans not to execute Saddam. "Anything but death for Saddam would be a travesty of justice," said Nawzad Othman, a greengrocer whose brother was among 5,000 Kurds killed in the notorious chemical weapon attack on Halabja in 1988. "A murderer like that cannot be allowed to live." Iraq's new government, dominated by the majority Shia community and its Kurdish coalition partners, faces a tricky balancing act. Its attempts to reach out to all parties were boosted yesterday when the outgoing interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia, agreed to join the new government after weeks of negotiation. It was unclear if Mr Allawi or any of his bloc would take cabinet posts. Shia MPs in the cleric-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which won 51 per cent of the vote in the election, are unhappy with the development and accuse Mr Allawi of corruption. |
| Posted by:Anonymous5089 |
| #13 "We are trying to reach out to the insurgents," the source said. Sounds like a tactic from the Abu Mazen School of Governing, Lesson Four: How To "Defeat" Criminals/Terrorists by Not Using Force. "We don’t expect them to stop fighting unconditionally. Sending Saddam to prison for the rest of his life is not a huge price for us to pay, but it will save them a lot of face." Here's a better idea: Execute Saddam and blow the faces off any "insurgents" found. No face, no need to worry about "losing" it. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-11 9:26:09 PM |
| #12 Total, unmitigated BS. I'm surprised this was in the Telegraph and not the New York Times. |
| Posted by: someone 2005-04-11 7:53:55 PM |
| #11 This is bullshit - these people can't stop the insurgency. Do you think the Iranian Iran, Binnie, and Al-Z do *not* want success in Iraq at any cost. |
| Posted by: Mr 666 2005-04-11 7:44:21 PM |
| #10 Hey,mucky,what's up.Not necessarly,RW.Being gut shot ain't a nice way to die.Pesonally I favor life in prision,with pre-internment pre-frontal lobatomy.Leve him a droooling,diaper wearing idiot. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-04-11 6:50:03 PM |
| #9 Bush 41 stopped the war because a SCUD landed in Israel? Please. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-04-11 6:40:20 PM |
| #8 The anthrax letters in late 2001 were not intended to be deadly. They were merely warnings. The stuff that went to the Senate was the real deal - grade A weaponized anthrax. Close to the theoretical maximum number of spores per gram very easily aerosolized. If a little bit of that stuff inside the US, the implication is that a lot of it is inside the US. A lot meaning 10 KG, but that would be enough. Saddam and his cronies were convinced that WMD saved them during the 1987 fighting. In 1991, Bush the Elder abruptly stopped the war the same morning that a CW SCUD full of concrete landed in southern Israel. And in 2001... "This is next. You can not stop us." In 2003, Bush the Younger and Saddam played a big game of chicken. Saddam flinched, but never let go of his ace-in-the-hole. That is why Saddam will live. |
| Posted by: Fleater Angoper3898 2005-04-11 6:28:51 PM |
| #7 hey muckster, glad to see you back! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-11 5:25:05 PM |
| #6 hmmm. im was thinkerin use him sum kinda reality teeevee showand make sum money wile at it |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-04-11 5:20:42 PM |
| #5 I'm with .com on this - BS |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-11 5:20:18 PM |
| #4 The only question is the method of his televised execution. Although I think being fed through a shredder or dropped into a vat of boiling lard are at the top of the list, poison gas is probably the most appropriate. He should not be shot or hung as death from those methods arrives too quickly and cleanly. As to his buddies in the "insurgency" they should be told to go away lest their lives end in a similar fashion. |
| Posted by: RWV 2005-04-11 5:04:26 PM |
| #3 Honestly, I think Saddam will be lucky to ONLY be hanged. I'm sure he would prefer that to say, being tied to a post and letting all his victim's family toss rocks at him or give him a nice lingering death by toothpicks. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2005-04-11 5:02:02 PM |
| #2 Necktie Party! |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-04-11 4:49:50 PM |
| #1 Bullshit. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-11 4:27:31 PM |