http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/11/wirq11.xml
Saddam may escape noose in deal to halt insurgency
By Adrian Blomfield in Baghdad
(Filed: 11/04/2005)
Saddam Hussein could avoid the gallows under a secret proposal by
insurgent leaders that Iraq's new administration is "seriously
considering", a senior government source said yesterday.
A reprieve is understood to be among the central demands of Sunni
nationalists and former members of Saddam's Ba'ath party who have
reportedly begun negotiations with the government amid the backdrop of
a bloody insurgency which claimed 30 lives during the weekend.
Officials say they are looking for a way of joining the political
process after January's election, which was boycotted by most of the
once-powerful Sunni minority.
"We are trying to reach out to the insurgents," the source said. "We
don't expect them to stop fighting unconditionally. Sending Saddam to
prison for the rest of his life is not a huge price for us to pay, but
it will save them a lot of face."
The official said those involved in the negotiations included senior
members of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and the Jaish Mohammed, a
grouping of former army officers that operates under the guise of an
Islamist organisation.
But it is unclear if those at the talks genuinely represent a majority
of the deeply fragmented insurgency. While a deal could represent an
important step towards ending the violence that has plagued postwar
Iraq, a reprieve for Saddam would infuriate many in the country. He is
unlikely to come to trial before the end of this year, but Jalal
Talabani, Iraq's new president, has already begun to prepare his
people for a possible reprieve.
Asked about the fate of Saddam in an interview yesterday in the
pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, the president, who is a Kurd,
stated his personal opposition to a death sentence.
"I am among the lawyers who signed an international petition against
the death penalty around the world and it would be a problem for me if
Iraqi courts issued death sentences," he said.
Though Mr Talabani's powers are largely ceremonial, he has the power,
as the head of a three-man presidential council, to commute death
sentences. The two vice presidents that make up the remainder of the
council, Ghazi al Yawar, a Sunni, and Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shia, have
not stated their positions.
Further demonstrating his determination for a political settlement to
the insurgency, Mr Talabani proposed an amnesty for fighters last
week. But al-Qa'eda's wing in Iraq, which is led by Jordanian-born Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, yesterday rejected the offer and dismissed Mr
Talabani as an American "agent".
Though they regard Mr Talabani as a hero, many Kurds said they opposed
any plans not to execute Saddam.
"Anything but death for Saddam would be a travesty of justice," said
Nawzad Othman, a greengrocer whose brother was among 5,000 Kurds
killed in the notorious chemical weapon attack on Halabja in 1988. "A
murderer like that cannot be allowed to live."
Iraq's new government, dominated by the majority Shia community and
its Kurdish coalition partners, faces a tricky balancing act. Its
attempts to reach out to all parties were boosted yesterday when the
outgoing interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia, agreed
to join the new government after weeks of negotiation. It was unclear
if Mr Allawi or any of his bloc would take cabinet posts.
Shia MPs in the cleric-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which won 51 per
cent of the vote in the election, are unhappy with the development and
accuse Mr Allawi of corruption.
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