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Saddam deputy loses final appeal Former Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan has lost his appeal against a death sentence for killing Shia Muslims in the 1980s. Ramadan was sentenced to hang after an appeal by the Iraqi High Tribunal, which previously jailed him for life. He was tried alongside former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein over the killing of 148 Shias in the village of Dujail. Under Iraqi law he must follow Saddam Hussein to the gallows within 30 days of the appeals process being exhausted.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused to block the execution of Saddam Hussein's former vice president, saying he had no jurisdiction to step into the case. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman said agreeing to the motion brought by Taha Yassin Ramadan's lawyers would be tantamount to rejecting the verdict of an Iraqi trial court and accepting defense claims it was unfair. Ruling from the bench, he said Ramadan wanted to force the U.S. to overturn the court's decision. Attorneys have called the case a show trial with no legal foundation but said the U.S. has no jurisdiction to review...

Iraqi court to sentence Saddam's deputy to death next week Press Trust of India Baghdad, January 17, 2007 Another deputy of former leader Saddam Hussein will be given the death penalty later this month after the appeals court ruled that his previous sentence of life in prison was too lenient, a spokesman has said. Raid Juhi, a spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal, said a session will be held on January 25 in which a judge will read the new verdict against former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan. On November 5, Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to...

What was the relationship between Saddam Hussein's inner circle and Islamic terrorists? A newly released document captured in Iraq, but never before seen by the public, offers glimmers of new insight at the Pentagon's Foreign Military Studies Office Web site. The FMSO is a research and analysis center under the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command. This particular document mentions two men with similar names, each with ties to Pakistani religious schools known as madrassas, Jihad training camps, the Taliban and Al Qaeda. This original translation by my translator-colleague, who goes by the nom de guerre of "Sammi," comes from...

KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwaiti prosecutors have drawn up a list of charges against ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and hundreds of his officials for alleged war crimes committed during Iraq's occupation of the Gulf nation, the prosecutor general said Wednesday. The list will be delivered to the Iraqi court that will try Saddam and other former regime members and the new charges will be added to the existing allegations, prosecutor general Hamed al-Othman said, according to the state-owned Kuwait News Agency. Saddam, who was captured in December 2003, already faces charges in Iraq that include killing rival politicians during his...

<p>BAGHDAD &#8212; Taha Yassin Ramadan, a former Iraqi vice president known as "Saddam's knuckles" for his ruthlessness against regime enemies, was captured by Kurdish fighters yesterday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and turned over to U.S. forces.</p> <p>Ramadan once was considered Iraq's second-most-powerful man, but his influence declined in the later years of Saddam Hussein's regime. He was No. 20 on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqi fugitives and the "10 of Diamonds" in the Pentagon's deck of cards depicting former regime figures.</p>

Saddam Hussein sought to protect George Galloway by severing the Iraqi intelligence service's contacts with the Labour backbencher, according to an official document found by The Daily Telegraph in Baghdad. This letter, found in the files of the Iraqi foreign ministry, explained that any disclosure of Mr Galloway's "relationship" with the Mukhabarat, which operated as both secret police and intelligence service, would do great harm to his political career. A letter from Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam's deputy on the Ba'ath Party's Revolutionary Command Council, dated May 6, 2000 stated that: "It is better not to engage the Mukhabarat in the relationship...

London, Iraq Press, April 19, 2003 – Republican Guard commanders turned their guns against Saddam Hussein and his top aides shortly before Baghdad fell to U.S. marines, according to a prominent exiled Iraqi writer and journalist. Saad Bazzaz, editor-in-chief of the respected London-based Arabic daily Azzaman newspaper, told Iraq Press that members of the Republican Guard command killed Saddam Hussein, his two sons, Uday and Qusay, along with other senior Iraqi leaders. The killing took place shortly before the fall of Baghdad. The commanders, Saddam's most trusted military leaders, wanted to spare the country further suffering and destruction, Bazzaz said....

Senior Iraqi officers have scattered across the Middle East after fleeing Baghdad as the assault on the city began, according to some senior Iraqis in London who have kept close links with key figures within the country. All of them have false passports and could try to later hide in countries like Pakistan or Malaysia or Indonesia, said Ali Haitham Rashid Wihaib, who was Saddam Hussain's former head of protocol. He added that the Syrian authorities were keeping some of their "embarrassing guests" including generals and ministers hidden because of the US pressure. He, claimed in a daily, that Saddam...

Feb. 24, 2003 Iraq disappointed over "weak support" from Arab countries By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Iraq expressed deep disappointment Monday with fellow Arab nations for not giving more unequivocal support in its efforts to avoid a US-led invasion to disarm Baghdad. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said he was especially disappointed that although Arab nations say they oppose a war on Baghdad, some of them - such as Qatar - have allowed their countries to be a platform for US troops preparing for a possible assault. Even the Non-Aligned Movement now meeting for a summit in Kuala Lumpur, including...

U.S. told Iraq won't fall quickly Hussein's VP warns battle won't be like Afghanistan war 08/31/2002 Associated Press BEIRUT, Lebanon - Iraq will not fall as quickly as Afghanistan's Taliban regime did, the country's vice president said Friday, warning that Iraqis will fight "tooth and nail" against any U.S. invasion. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan made the comments after talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, the latest Arab leader he has met in a tour to rally support against the United States. "Iraq will fight tooth and nail to defend its territory," Mr. Ramadan told reporters. "Iraq is not...