death penalty news August 5, 2004
IRAQ: Death penalty is favoured Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem Al Shaalan said in remarks published yesterday that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein should be sentenced to death for his crimes. Shaalan said in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily Al Anbaa that keeping Saddam alive was "very uncomforting for the victims of his crimes." "Saddam should die, this is an unavoidable sentence," he said, referring to the trial of the former Iraqi leader who was ousted in a US-led military invasion last year. "Everything around him speaks of crimes that he had even taught to his children," he said in reference to Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, who were killed by US troops in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last year. Saddam, arrested by US troops in December 2003 and held at a secret location under US protection, appeared before an Iraqi court on July 1 and was charged with committing "crimes against humanity". (source: Gulf Daily News)
