Posted on 11/07/2006 7:15:47 AM PST by MadIvan
Saddam Hussein has urged Iraqis to seek reconciliation, two days after being sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity.
"I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands," the former president told the court in a separate trial for genocide.
He is being tried with six others for his role in a military campaign against the Kurds in the late 1980s.
More than 180,000 people are alleged to have died in the Anfal campaign.
Saddam Hussein was subdued in court on Tuesday, in contrast to his defiance on Sunday as his death sentence was read out.
It is not clear if the Iraqi authorities will wait until the second trial is complete before they carry out the sentence in the first case.
An automatic appeal against the guilty verdict will be launched, to be decided by a panel of nine judges. A ruling is expected late this year or early next year, and if the death sentence is upheld, the execution must be carried out within 30 days.
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on him in 1982.
The Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has made it clear it wants the execution to take place as soon as possible but some Kurdish politicians have said they want the Anfal case to be finished first.
Kurdish witness
The Anfal trial resumed as the curfew imposed for the verdict in the first trial was lifted.
Saddam Hussein and the six co-defendants - all different from his previous co-defendants - face charges over their role in the Anfal campaign against ethnic Kurds, many of whom were gassed to death.
Speaking to the court in the afternoon session, Saddam Hussein cited references to the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus who had asked for forgiveness for those who had opposed them.
In a markedly different atmosphere to Sunday, his call for mutual reconciliation came after he had respectfully challenged one witness' testimony.
Tuesday's first witness told the court that he and other men from his village had surrendered to Iraqi soldiers after being promised an amnesty.
Qahar Khalil Mohammed, a Kurd, then told the court how they were lined up and shot by the soldiers. He said he survived despite several wounds, but 33 other people from his village died.
Saddam Hussein rebutted the testimony, saying there was nobody who could verify Mr Mohammed's account.
More trials are possible over Saddam Hussein's response to a 1991 Shia uprising and the repression of the people of Iraq's southern marshlands.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
"Can't we all just get along?" Rodney King................
That is pretty much exactly what I thought, word for word.
Shut up and hang, Sadders.
Those 72 virgins must not be too appealing.
I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, and I wish to negotiate!
That's because they're all dead, Mister president.
Ping.
kum ba yah, kum ba yah.......
Love, Ivan
So BBC tells us that Saddam is actually a good guy who wants peace and love for Iraq. Too bad he didn't think about this 30 years ago...
Well there you go...I suppose the Nobel committee need not even convene this year.
Maybe after he's executed he can go reconcile with all those Kurds he murdered.
so its FINALLY sinking in heh saddie? you gonna die you POS , and there's NOTHING you can do about it!
That's because it's ONE, 72 year old virgin.
Are you sure this isn't an Onion piece?
He was just joking and people took it the wrong way.
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