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Iraq awaits Saddam verdict
Saddam Hussein might get the death penalty if judged guilty.
BY CORRESPONDENT
November 5, 2006
Iraq is awaiting with bated breath its former President’s Saddam Hussein’s fate as the verdict is due on Sunday. The new administration in the Middle East nation has cancelled leaves for all military officers and has been weighing imposition of a curfew. It is believed that Saddam would be handed out a possible death verdict as the trial nears to a close.
According to Defense Ministry officials, the administration is gearing up to face jubilant shooting from people who support the verdict or that people’s fury as they are feared to avenge Saddam when they hear the verdict.
It is learnt that the situation in Iraq is such that it might spur an emotional response. A death sentence could spark violence among Sunni Arabs, many of whom see the trial as US-sponsored retribution by Shiites and Kurds, ethnic groups that suffered repression during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
If the verdict spells death to Saddam, violence and killings are expected to increase, and Saddam will turn into a national hero among the Sunnis. People in many regions, including Azamiyah in Baghdad, still support the ousted 69-year-old Saddam. On the other hand, Shiites will be the ones who will be tough to contain if Saddam is let free.
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others has been on and they face charges of crimes against humanity for the execution of at least 148 people and the imprisonment and torture of hundreds of families in the predominantly Shiite town of Dujail after the former president’s motorcade was attacked there in 1982. He was consequently arrested in December 2003 and the trial began in October 2005.
Though the US-supported new administration hoped for peace, it was proved otherwise as continuing insurgency and killings gained in strength ever since. Significantly, Saddam Hussein used the courtroom proceedings for his personal outbursts and insistence that he is still Iraq’s lawful president. Besides, the trial was also marked by violence. Two defense attorneys were killed, and a chief judge resigned under public criticism that he was too soft on the defendants.
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