[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: Maliki hopes Saddam is sentenced to death 'soon' Maliki hopes Saddam is sentenced to death 'soon' Compiled by Daily Star staff Thursday, October 19, 2006 Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday he hoped legal proceedings against ousted President Saddam Hussein would be short and that he would be found guilty and sentenced to death soon. The prime minister's comments came as an Iraqi court trying Saddam heard the first eye-witness account of mass killings during the toppled president's 1988 "Anfal" campaign against Iraq's Kurdish minority. Asked about Saddam's trials, Maliki told a news conference: "God willing, the trial will not last a long time. God willing, the death-sentence verdict will be issued soon against the tyrant Saddam and his followers." "Definitely with the execution of Saddam and the criminals with him, those who are laying their bets on coming back to power under the banner of Saddam will find their gamble [failed to pay off]," he said. A Kurdish witness at Saddam Hussein's genocide trial told the court Wednesday that he survived a massacre by running and falling into a ditch full of bodies as troops fired on his group of detainees. A second Kurdish testified to a separate massacre in which 35 detainees, knowing they were about to die, decided to attack their guards in the hope that if they struck first, at least one would live to tell the tale. Speaking from behind a curtain to conceal his identity for fear of reprisal, the first witness said he was in a group of detainees who thought they were being taken to another detention center during the 1988 campaign. But their convoy of trucks stopped in the desert. http://www.dailystar.com.lb "It was dark when they brought a group of people [prisoners] in front of the vehicle. The drivers got out of our vehicles and turned on the headlights." Some prisoners tried to grab an automatic rifle from a guard, but they failed because they were "so weak," he said, adding the soldiers opened fire, spraying the prisoners with bullets. "A detainee called Anwar recited the Islamic prayers before death and asked for forgiveness," the man testified. "I ran and fell into a ditch. It was full of bodies. I fell on a body. It was still alive. It was his last breath," he said, adding he took off his clothes, thinking he was more likely to blend into the color of the sand if he were naked. "The desert was full of mounds that had people buried underneath." One of Saddam's co-defendants, Ali Hassan al-Majid - the notorious "Chemical Ali" - mocked the witness, accusing him of telling a "tale worthy of Hollywood." The trial later adjourned until Thursday to hear more prosecution witnesses. The defense team said Wednesday they need to discuss a series of demands they have made of the court before they can call off their boycott. - Agencies Printable Version Send to a friend
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||