UN will not support Saddam death penalty - Annan
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed hope that Saddam Hussein’s capture will accelerate reconciliation among Iraqis and the establishment of an Iraqi transitional government.
But he said the United Nations could not support bringing the former Iraqi leader before a tribunal that might sentence him to death.
The capture “is a positive development because Saddam Hussein has cast a rather long shadow over developments and over the transition process,” Annan said. “With his capture, that shadow has been removed.”
Annan stressed that any trial for Saddam must meet international norms and standards.
He reiterated the United Nations’ longstanding opposition to the death penalty in any UN-sanctioned tribunal.
The secretary-general said he had not studied the Iraqi Governing Council’s plans for a court to try members of Saddam’s regime so he could not say whether it would meet international standards.
At a meeting today, the Security Council was expected to discuss the timetable that the Iraqi Governing Council and the US-led coalition agreed to on November 15 for a handover of power to a provisional government in June and general elections by the end of 2005.
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was expected to present the calendar at a public session and then answer questions at a closed-door meeting.
Annan was expected to present the report he issued last week saying Iraq was still too dangerous to reopen the United Nations’ Baghdad office, which was closed in October after two bombings and a surge in violence.
While the Security Council was deeply divided over the US-led war that toppled Saddam’s regime, many members saw his capture on Saturday as an opportunity to promote reconciliation among Iraq’s disparate ethnic and political groups and get the programme for Iraq’s self-government moving.
Annan said he could not say “categorically” whether Saddam’s capture could accelerate the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty – but he said he believed “the key” to decreasing violence was for Iraqis to take control of the country.
Annan expressed hope that Saddam’s arrest “will help us move ahead with the transition period and also accelerate the process of reconciliation and attempts to establish a transitional Iraqi government that is inclusive and transparent.”
He spoke to reporters before a private meeting with Jeremy Greenstock, Britain’s former UN ambassador, who is now the top British representative in Iraq.
Diplomats said Annan indicated at the meeting that the United Nations had no plans to get involved politically in Iraq until after the occupation ends in June 2004.
“I think there’s a huge role for the United Nations to play in the transitional period itself,” Greenstock said after the meeting. “The important year for this whole process is 2005 when the direct elections for a constitutional convention and later for a government take place.”
But Greenstock indicated that the United Nations needed to help prepare for elections on the ground, not from outside the country as Annan was planning.
