Saddam Hussein Depressed and Begging For Mercy
Al Hayat 2004/09/20
Cairo
Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is depressed and has begged the Iraqi government for mercy, Iraq's Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said in an interview with in Al-Hayat today.
"He is distraught and depressed," Allawi said of Saddam, the man who was Iraq's president for 24 years and is now awaiting trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"Saddam and his colleagues are not the giants that the media sometimes talks about. Saddam sent us an oral message in which he begged for mercy. He said that they were working in the public interest and did not mean any harm," Allawi said in the interview.
He also said he had survived four assassination attempts since his interim government came to power in June, the last one just five days ago, when his bodyguards suspected a car parking outside Baghdad's Green Zone compound.
The car then blew up, and a battle between gunmen and Allawi's bodyguards ensued. Two non-Iraqi Arabs were arrested, he said.
Allawi would not give their nationality, but said they belonged to Islamist militant groups.
Abu Musaab Al Zarkawi, a Jordanian militant Washington says is allied to Al Qaeda, threatened to assassinate Allawi, which he described in the interview as "despicable for the Iraqi people and for Iraq".
"For someone who appears to be connected with international organisations to come along and threaten Iraq's Prime Minister, whoever he may be, is unacceptable," Allawi said.
| Saddam Hussein After his capture. |
Zarkawi's Tawhid and Jihad group has claimed responsibility for most of the bloodiest suicide attacks in Iraq since Saddam was ousted in the U.S.-led war last year.
During the interview, Allawi struck a cautiously positive tone on relations with neighboring Iran, which was angered by the U.S. and Iraqi accusations of stirring up tensions in Iraq.
Allawi said what he called Iranian interference in some Iraqi affairs did not mean Iran's government.
"The interference rather comes from some circles that support particular religious tendencies," he said.
"That was the case with Moqtada Al Sadr, which we did not treat as a religious movement, but as a violation of the rule of law, something we cannot tolerate," Allawi said.
Some politicians in Shi'ite Iran asked for the Islamic Republic to actively support Sadr's movement in its battles against the U.S. forces, and uprisings in the holy city of Najaf. But Iran officially declared that it does not support any group in Iraq.
Allawi is expected to visit Tehran, which has given his interim government lukewarm backing, but no date has been set.
He reaffirmed his commitment to hold elections in the vast majority of Iraqi territories in January, as planned, even if insecurity prevented them from taking place in a few places.
"Those who cannot participate can take part in the next elections. But we hope to have stabilized the security situation by January," Allawi said.
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