Post by Shooshoo on Dec 29, 2006 19:18:20 GMT -5
Saddam 'To Hang In Hours'
Updated: 23:40, Friday December 29, 2006
Iraqi officials insist Saddam Hussein will be executed within hours, despite sources in the US saying his hanging may not be imminent.
Government figures in Baghdad say the former dictator will be hanged between 2.30am and 3am UK time.
His lawyers have asked a judge in the US to block his transfer to Iraqi custody.
A 21-page document given to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington DC argues that a civil case lodged against Saddam in the US capital means he has rights as a civil defendant and so should not be executed.
Earlier an Iraqi judge had said that Saddam would be put to death today or tomorrow.
There were reports that the US had handed the former dictator had already been handed over to Iraqi authorities for execution - but State Department sources denied this.
The US Pentagon later said that it did not necessarily expect the hanging to happen within 24 hours, saying there were still legal procedures that had to be observed.
Iraqi government sources said Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had signed Saddam's death sentence.
American troops in Iraq are said to have been put on "high alert" to deal with any outbreak of violence following an announcement of his death.
Anger at a court ruling The former dictator's lawyer said he believed Saddam would be executed tomorrow.
"The Americans called the defence team to pick up his personal belongings," said Najib Naimi, a former Qatar justice minister.
"All these indications show he will probably be executed tomorrow."
Mr Maliki had insisted there would be no delay in carrying out the death sentence.
"Whoever rejects Saddam's execution would be insulting the martyrs," a statement quoted him as saying.
"After the court upheld the sentence no one can overrule the death sentence against the criminal Saddam."
On Thursday, Saddam's half brothers visited him in his jail cell, Iraqi officials said. The meeting could indicate the deposed leader's execution was approaching.
Although legally in Iraqi custody, US troops have been physically keeping guard over Saddam.
Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 people who were detained after an attempt to assassinate him in the northern Iraqi city of Dujail in 1982.
The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days. Saddam has been kept at Camp Cropper, an American military prison close to Baghdad's airport.
Updated: 23:40, Friday December 29, 2006
Iraqi officials insist Saddam Hussein will be executed within hours, despite sources in the US saying his hanging may not be imminent.
Government figures in Baghdad say the former dictator will be hanged between 2.30am and 3am UK time.
His lawyers have asked a judge in the US to block his transfer to Iraqi custody.
A 21-page document given to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington DC argues that a civil case lodged against Saddam in the US capital means he has rights as a civil defendant and so should not be executed.
Earlier an Iraqi judge had said that Saddam would be put to death today or tomorrow.
There were reports that the US had handed the former dictator had already been handed over to Iraqi authorities for execution - but State Department sources denied this.
The US Pentagon later said that it did not necessarily expect the hanging to happen within 24 hours, saying there were still legal procedures that had to be observed.
Iraqi government sources said Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had signed Saddam's death sentence.
American troops in Iraq are said to have been put on "high alert" to deal with any outbreak of violence following an announcement of his death.
Anger at a court ruling The former dictator's lawyer said he believed Saddam would be executed tomorrow.
"The Americans called the defence team to pick up his personal belongings," said Najib Naimi, a former Qatar justice minister.
"All these indications show he will probably be executed tomorrow."
Mr Maliki had insisted there would be no delay in carrying out the death sentence.
"Whoever rejects Saddam's execution would be insulting the martyrs," a statement quoted him as saying.
"After the court upheld the sentence no one can overrule the death sentence against the criminal Saddam."
On Thursday, Saddam's half brothers visited him in his jail cell, Iraqi officials said. The meeting could indicate the deposed leader's execution was approaching.
Although legally in Iraqi custody, US troops have been physically keeping guard over Saddam.
Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 people who were detained after an attempt to assassinate him in the northern Iraqi city of Dujail in 1982.
The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days. Saddam has been kept at Camp Cropper, an American military prison close to Baghdad's airport.