Saddam urges Iraqis to forgive each other
Two days after being sentenced to hang, a sombre and subdued Saddam Hussein today called on Iraqis to “forgive, reconcile and shake hands” as he returned to court for his Kurdish genocide trial.
The startling call came after Saddam rose during the afternoon session to question the testimon of the witnesses, who told of a mass killing of Iraqi Kurds in the 1987-88 Operation Anfal crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas.
Saddam then calmly spoke about how the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus had 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 demeanour was far different than his combative performance Sunday, when another court sentenced him to die for the deaths of about 150 Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against him in 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.
Today, however, Saddam, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, sat quietly along with the other six defendants, calmly taking notes as four Kurdish witnesses gave their testimony.
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.
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 UN 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 told reporters. “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.
Today, 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 had 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 Koran” 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.
