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Kurdish Judge who sentenced Saddam now lives in
Britain
17.3.2007 |
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March 17, 2007
LONDON, March 17 , -- The Iraqi judge who
sentenced former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to
death is living secretly in Britain and has applied
for permission to stay, the Times newspaper reported
on Saturday.
Raouf Abdel Rahman, 65, a Kurd, came to Britain on a
visitor's visa with his family because he feared for
their lives, according to the unsourced report.
He is thought to have applied for asylum after
arriving in Britain two weeks before Saddam was
hanged on Dec. 30 last year, the Times said.
A spokeswoman for Britain's Home Office (interior
ministry), the department that handles immigration
and asylum claims, would
not confirm or deny the report.
"We never discuss individual asylum cases," she
said.
Militants in Iraq have frequently targeted the
relatives of prominent figures, including judges,
who are surrounded by tight security. |
Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman, headed the panel for
Saddam's trial in the killing of Shi'as in Dujail. |
Abdel Rahman, a Kurd, headed the court that
sentenced Saddam to hang on Nov. 5 last year after
he was found guilty of crimes against humanity.
The trial was over the killing of 148 Shi'ite men
after a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam in
the Iraqi town of Dujail.
Abdel Rahman also sentenced to death Saddam's former
chief judge, Awad Hamed al-Bander and Saddam's
half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti.
Raouf Abdel-Rahman a Kurd, was biased because his
hometown of Halabja in Kurdistan region (Iraq) was
subjected to a 1988 poison gas attack allegedly
ordered by the former president. Some 5,000 Kurds
were killed in that attack, including several of
Abdel-Rahman's relatives.
Abdel-Rahman had been detained and tortured in the
1980s by Saddam's security agents. Efforts to
contact Abdel-Rahman were unsuccessful.
Earlier this month, Al Jazeera
also reported that Abdel
Rahman had sought asylum in Britain. Citing
unnamed official British sources, the TV news
station said the judge feared his family could be
killed if they stayed in Iraq.
Reuters
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