WORLD / Middle East
Saddam urges Iraqis to reconcile
(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-08 07:12
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A somber and subdued Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to
"forgive, reconcile and shake hands" as he returned to court Tuesday for
his Kurdish genocide trial two days after being sentenced to death in a
separate case.
Iran urged Iraq to disregard calls for clemency and hang the ousted
president, saying Saddam's "very existence is anti-human."
In this photo, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is seen as he is
questioned by Chief Investigative Judge Raid Juhi, not seen, Aug. 23,
2005 at an unknown location. Saddam was sentenced to hang on Sunday. [AP]
The startling call from Saddam came after he rose during the afternoon
session to question the testimony of the witnesses, who told of a mass
killing of Iraqi Kurds in the 1987-88 Operation Anfal crackdown on
Kurdish guerrillas.
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Saddam then calmly spoke about how the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ
asked for forgiveness for those who had opposed them.
"I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake
hands," Saddam said before resuming his seat.
The former president's demeanor was far different from his combative
performance Sunday, when another court convicted him in the deaths of
about 150 Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against him
in the town of Dujail in 1982.
Saddam and two others were sentenced to death by hanging. Four
co-defendants received lesser sentences and one was acquitted. Saddam
thundered "Long live the people and death to their enemies" when the
sentence was imposed.
On Tuesday, however, Saddam, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, sat
quietly along with the six other defendants in the Anfal case, calmly
taking notes as four Kurdish witnesses gave their testimony.
Saddam's goal in making the statement was unclear.
However, the remarks followed at least two other public declarations by
Saddam in recent weeks in which he urged national unity - perhaps to
secure a more favorable place in history or to encourage contacts between
the Americans and his supporters.
One statement, released last month by his lawyers, urged Iraqis to
remember that their goal should be to free the country "from the forces
of occupation and their followers" and not "settling scores."
In a statement Sunday, Saddam urged Iraqis not to "take revenge on the
invading nations and their people" and to unite "in the face of sectarian
strife."
A nine-judge appeals panel is expected to rule on Saddam's guilty verdict
and death sentence in the Dujail case by the middle of January, the chief
prosecutor said. That could set in motion a possible execution by
mid-February.
The death sentence has drawn criticism from European and human rights
officials who oppose capital punishment - regardless of the crime.
"Even a person like Saddam Hussein should not be sentenced to death,"
Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture, said during a
human rights forum in Vienna.
In Tehran, however, the Iranian government called for the death sentence
to be carried out, saying that Saddam was a criminal who deserved to die.
"We hope the fair, correct and legal verdict against this criminal ... is
enforced," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said. "Saddam has
both Shiite and Sunni blood on his hands. His very existence is
anti-human."
Iran and Iraq waged a bitter eight-year war after Saddam invaded the
country in 1980.
On Tuesday, the court heard testimony from survivors of an Aug. 28, 1988
massacre of more than 30 Kurdish men, who had surrendered after hearing
that Saddam offered amnesty to Kurdish rebels.
Instead, the witnesses said they were herded together at the base of a
hill, where Iraqi soldiers opened fire on them. Only a handful survived.
"When they fired in our direction, we all fell to the ground," Qahar
Khalil Mohammed testified. "When I went back, I saw my father and two
brothers had been killed, as well as 18 of my relatives."
Mohammed said an Iraqi medical officer used a broken bottle to clean his
wound.
Witness Abdul-Karim Nayif said the men had been hiding in caves after an
attack on their village near the Turkish border and some had considered
suicide.
But they decided instead to surrender after Iraqi officers "swore on the
Quran" that Saddam's offer of amnesty was genuine, Nayif said.
Another survivor, Abdul-Karim Nayif, submitted a video of a mass grave
found near the site of the massacre after Kurds gained self-rule in 1991.
The video showed numerous human remains.
Saddam and his cousin "Chemical Ali" al-Majid are charged with genocide
in the Anfal case. The other defendants are accused of crimes against
humanity and war crimes. All could be sentenced to death by hanging if
convicted.
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