Appeal judge says Saddam will be executed by tomorrow
Saddam Hussein will be executed by tomorrow, an Iraqi judge said today.
“Saddam will be executed today or tomorrow,” said Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld the former dictator’s death sentence.
“All the measures have been done,” Haddad said.
Lawyers representing Hussein have reported that the condemned former leader is no longer in US custody and have issued an appeal to stop his execution.
The physical hand-over of Saddam to Iraqi authorities was believed to be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged, although the lawyers’ statement did not specifically say Saddam was in Iraqi hands.
“A few minutes ago we received correspondence from the Americans saying that President Saddam Hussein is no longer under the control of US forces,” according to the statement.
In Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has signed the death sentence against Saddam, a government official said.
But the official, who refused to be identified by name because he was not authorised to release the information, said that Iraqi authorities were not yet in control of Saddam.
“We will get him when the execution is going to be carried out,” said the official, who refused to give other details.
The discrepancy could not be explained.
The defence team statement called on “everybody to do everything to stop this unfair execution”.
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