Saddam Team Seeks Block Of Execution
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein's lawyer made a last-ditch effort yesterday to impede his execution, beseeching world leaders to prevent America from handing over the ousted dictator to Iraqi authorities who plan to hang him.
The plea from Saddam's attorney came as the American military reported the deaths of five more troops and announced that Iraqi forces, backed by American forces, captured an Al Qaeda in Iraq cell leader believed responsible for the June kidnapping of two soldiers who were found tortured and killed.
With at least 72 more Iraqis killed in sectarian violence, American officials and Iraqis expressed concern about the potential for even worse bloodshed following Saddam's execution. The lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said transferring Saddam to Iraqi authorities could be the trigger.
"If the American administration insists in handing the president to the Iraqis, it would commit a great strategic mistake which would lead to the escalation of the violence in Iraq and the eruption of a destructive civil war," Mr. Dulaimi told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail in 1982. The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days.
The White House was preparing for Saddam's execution as early as this weekend, based on information that American officials in Baghdad were receiving from the Iraqi government, a senior administration official said in Washington.
But Iraq's deputy justice minister, Bosho Ibrahim, said Saddam shouldn't be hanged for another few weeks. "The law does not say within 30 days, it says after the lapse of 30 days," Mr. Ibrahim said.
He did not explain the discrepancy between his interpretation and the court's, nor could he give a specific execution date.
Mr. Dulaimi said the ousted leader should enjoy protection from his enemies as a "prisoner of war" and remain in American custody.
