Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein said on Wednesday that he would go to the gallows as a ”sacrifice” and called on his former Iraqi subjects to unite against their enemies.
Saddam, in a letter written to the Iraqi people from his cell and confirmed as genuine by his defence counsel, said: ”I sacrifice myself. If God wills it, he will place me among the true men and martyrs.”
On Tuesday, a panel of appeals court judges confirmed Saddam’s conviction for crimes against humanity and ordered that he be hanged within 30 days.
In what might therefore be his final message, Saddam blamed his old enemies, the United States and Iran, for the bloodshed engulfing Iraq, which is in the grip of a sectarian war between Sunni and Shi’ite factions.
”The enemies of your country, the invaders and the Persians have found your unity a barrier between you and those who are now ruling you. Therefore, they drove their hated wedge among you,” he declared.
”O faithful people, I bid you farewell as my soul goes to God the compassionate,” he wrote. ”Long live Iraq. Long Live Iraq. Long live Palestine. Long live jihad and the mujahedin. God is great.”
Rapid Saddam execution
Meanwhile, Iraq prepared on Wednesday for the rapid execution of Hussein, with the US-backed government eager to bring his chapter in the country’s bloody history to an end.
Justice Minister Hashem al-Shibli said the sentence for crimes against humanity — upheld by an Iraqi appeal court on Tuesday — would be sent to the Presidency for approval while the prison service prepares to hang him.
The process will get under way rapidly, he said, but the formality of executing the ousted dictator could be delayed by the onset of the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which is due to start at the end of the week.
”There will be no amnesty in this case. Once we get the decree, we shall prepare to take action,” Shibli said, adding however: ”You know there’ll be the Eid. It could take some time because of the holiday.
”The decree passed by the court of appeal shall be passed to the Presidency and a presidential decree shall be sent to the General Prisons Directorate for the purpose of implementing the death sentence,” he said.
Saddam and two officials of his regime were convicted of crimes against humanity on November 5, after a court heard they ordered the deaths of 148 Shi’ite men from the village of Dujail in an act of collective punishment.
On Tuesday, a panel of appeal court judges confirmed the sentences, in what was a binding and final judgement. Authorities now have 30 days within which to carry out the execution orders.
The Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, follows the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The precise dates of the holiday can vary in different regions, but this year it is expected to begin on or about December 30.
Announcing the verdict on Tuesday, appeal court Judge Arif Shaheen said: ”As from tomorrow [Wednesday] the sentence could be carried out at any time.”
Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani has a personal moral objection to the use of the death penalty, but has in the past signalled that he will step aside and allow his vice-presidents to rubber stamp the verdict.
In the past, officials from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government have said they will not hesitate to carry out the sentence, and that he and his fellow convicts will be hanged within days or weeks of the decision.
The White House said the verdict marked ”a milestone for Iraqi people’s efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law”.
Key US ally Britain opposes capital punishment on principle, but said the decision on Saddam’s execution ”is one for the Iraqi authorities”.
Saddam’s original conviction on November 5 inspired conflicting emotions in Iraq, a country shattered by violence between warring political and religious factions since his fall from power. — AFP
