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Jalal Talabani says would oppose Saddam
death sentence
30.8.2005
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DUBAI - Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani said he would not sign a
death sentence for Saddam Hussein if the former
leader was convicted and said he would resign if the
sentence was passed.
Talabani, who opposes the death penalty on
principle, said he expected the former leader to be
convicted but it was not clear if he might let a
deputy sign a death sentence on his behalf.
"When the death sentence is given to me, I will not
sign it on principle ... and if it does pass, I will
relieve myself of my post," he told Al Arabiya
television.
"I think a sentence will be passed on Saddam Hussein
before my term ends," said Talabani, a Kurdish
former guerrilla leader who fought the former
leader. |
President : Jalal Talabani
(Mam Jalal) |
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Saddam
is expected to be put on trial for his life within
two months. He met his lawyer and the chief judge
investigating charges against him on Tuesday and
confirmed that the rest of his legal team had been
sacked.
So far, he has been formally charged in only one
case -- the mass killing of Shi'ite Muslims in the
village of Dujail following a failed assassination
attempt against him in 1982. If found guilty, he
faces the death penalty.
This month Talabani gave authority to his deputy to
sign death sentences on his behalf for three men
convicted of murder, paving the way for the first
state-endorsed executions since Saddam's fall in
2003 after nearly 25 years in power.
Reuters
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