Talk:Khalil al-Duleimi

Will one man's DEATH be another man's GAIN?

WHILE many applauded the death sentence handed down to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, some have accused US president George W Bush of using it as a political ploy.

They alleged that the US government had timed the event to boost the chances of Mr Bush's Republican Party candidates in tomorrow's US congressional elections.

Saddam was found guilty yesterday by the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad of killing 148 Shi'ite villagers from the Iraqi village of Dujail in 1982.

AMERICANS SAFE NOW

Mr Vitaya Wisethrat, a respected Muslim cleric in Thailand, said: 'The Americans are about to vote in a mid-term election, so maybe Bush will use this case to tell the voters that Saddam is dead and that the Americans are safe.'

White House spokesman Tony Snow quickly dismissed the rumours.

'Are you smoking dope?' Mr Snow joked when reporters asked yesterday if US and Iraqi officials conspired on the timing of the verdict.

'Are you telling me... that the Iraqi judicial system is coming up with a last-minute electoral surprise?

'The most important thing to note right now, even before, is that Iraq has an independent judiciary.'

Although many accepted the guilty verdict, reactions were divided over Saddam's death sentence.

The European Union welcomed the verdict but said Saddam should not be put to death.

At the Vatican, Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI's top prelate for justice issues, called the sentence a throwback to old 'eye for an eye' vengeance.

Islamic leaders warned that executing Saddam could inflame those who revile the US, and undermine President Bush's policy in the volatile Middle East.

'The hanging of Saddam Hussein will turn to hell for the Americans,' said Mr Wisethrat.

Saddam himself promised as much after the verdict.

'DOORS OF HELL WILL OPEN'

His defence lawyers have quoted him as saying that Americans in Iraq 'will see rivers of blood for years to come. It will dwarf Vietnam,' reported the Christian Science Monitor.

Saddam's chief defence counsel, Mr Khalil al-Dulaimi, said: 'The doors of hell will open in Iraq, the sectarian divide in the country will deepen, and many more coffins will be sent back to America.'

Although some voiced doubts that Saddam would actually be hanged, the International Federation for Human Rights denounced the death sentence, warning that it 'will generate more violence and deepen the cycle of killing for revenge in Iraq.'

Mr Wamidh Nadhmi, a political science professor in Baghdad who manages a Sunni-led political coalition, said that while Saddam was guilty of atrocities, 'now we are seeing more killing, more bloodletting than during his era.'

'They promised us - the Americans - there would be democracy and human rights. But we see them violated in every day's happenings,' he added.

'The majority of Iraqis think the drastic failure of this regime and the Americans to bring security and human rights to Iraq, does not entitle them to conduct such a trial (or) issue a guilty verdict.'

Amnesty International also questioned the fairness of the trial, and international legal experts said Saddam should be kept alive long enough to answer for other atrocities.

'The longer we can keep Saddam alive, the longer the tribunal can have to explore some of the other crimes involving hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,' said Ms Sonya Sceats, an international law expert.

'The problem really is that this tribunal has not shown itself to be fair and impartial - not only by international standards, but by Iraqi standards,' she said. - Wire Services.

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