Iraq braces for Hussein verdict

[ZeoBandit]

Iraq braces for Hussein verdict
POSTED: 12:41 p.m. EST, November 4, 2006
Story Highlights
• Open-ended curfew to be imposed in and around Baghdad on Sunday
• Iraq's PM says he hopes Hussein verdict "will be what this man deserves"
• Five civilians and an Iraqi reporter killed Saturday in and around Iraqi capital
• 27 bullet-riddled bodies found Saturday in Baghdad, police say

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A stiff curfew will be imposed in Baghdad and two Iraqi provinces on Sunday ahead of the verdict and sentencing in the trial of Saddam Hussein.

A complete movement ban -- both people and vehicles -- will be imposed in the capital and in Salaheddin and Diyala provinces starting at 6 a.m. Sunday until further notice, the Iraqi prime minister's office told CNN.

Baghdad International Airport will also be shut down on Sunday until further notice.

Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader al-Obeidi on Friday canceled leave for all army officers, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

One by one the eight defendants, including Hussein, will file into the courtroom Sunday to receive their sentences from a five-judge panel. Hussein's verdict -- which could be the death penalty for crimes against humanity -- is expected to be announced last.

The defendants are on trial for crimes stemming from a brutal crackdown against citizens in the town of Dujail after an attempt on Hussein's life in 1982.

People were jailed and tortured, and the government is suspected of ordering the execution of 148 people.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said: "I hope the verdict will be what this man deserves for what he committed against the Iraqi people.

"Therefore the Iraqi people will express their joy in the way they see appropriate; we will call on them in an address tomorrow to remain calm and show constraint and express this joy in an appropriate manner that suit this nations' challenges."

He made the remarks during a meeting with tribal leaders on Saturday.

Prosecutors recommend a death by hanging sentence for Hussein.
More violence in Baghdad

Meanwhile, in continued violence in and around the capital, five civilians and an Iraqi reporter were killed on Saturday, and 27 bodies were found in Baghdad, police told CNN.

Two people died and five were wounded when gunmen opened fire on civilians in the Hiteen neighborhood of western Baghdad, and two civilians died and five were wounded in a car bomb near Sadr City.

South of Baghdad, in the Babil province town of Mahmoudiya, a civilian was killed and three others were wounded in a car bombing.

Also, police said they found 27 bullet-riddled bodies in various Baghdad neighborhoods over the past 24 hours or so.

Gunmen shot and killed a reporter in a Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad, sources told CNN.

Ahmed al-Rasheed, a reporter with al-Sharqiya, an Iraqi satellite TV channel, was killed in Adhamiya around 6:30 p.m. Friday, according to an official with the Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory and a station spokesman.

The al-Sharqiya official said the reporter was in his car when he was killed. Al-Rasheed, 29, started working at the station in September. He previously worked with al-Diyar TV.
Rocket fired at military base

A rocket launched by "rogue elements of militias" missed a coalition military base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra Saturday, British military spokesman, Maj. Charlie Burbridge said, quoting Iraqi policemen on the scene.

Four Russian specialists were reportedly wounded in the misfire and are scheduled to return to Moscow Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

In an earlier report, Burbridge said two Russians and an Iraqi colleague working for an electricity company were killed as a result of indirect fire that was intended to hit the base in northern Basra. Interfax did not mention the Iraqi colleague in their report.

Saturday's incident sometimes occurs, Burbridge said, since often long-range rockets miss their intended targets due to imprecise capabilities. Coalition forces have experienced a gradual increase in the number of rocket attacks -- up from 12 per month to 16, he said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces raid Sadr City

U.S. and Iraqi forces raided Baghdad's Sadr City and arrested three suspected members of an illegal armed group blamed for murdering and kidnapping Iraqi citizens and security forces Saturday, the U.S. military said.

The raid sparked a gun battle involving rocket-propelled grenades from "hostile elements" as the troops were leaving the area with the cell's leader and two of its members.

"Iraqi forces returned fire at clearly identified targets to neutralize the threat and continued their return to base," the military said.

There were no reports of Iraqi forces of coalition casualties, but the military did not say if any militants or civilians had been wounded.

The raid comes shortly after U.S. forces cordoned off the city and launched a massive hunt for a missing U.S. soldier believed to be held captive there.

Days later Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, called off the checkpoints the military had set up around the densely populated Shiite area, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The recent hostilities in Sadr City and the surrounding areas involving the militia are thought to be due to sectarian strife.

U.S. and Iraqi forces raided western Baghdad's Jihad district and arrested nine suspected members of an illegal armed group blamed for building car and roadside bombs used in attacks on Iraqi citizens and security forces Friday, the U.S. military said Saturday.

The military said two of the suspects also helped train other militants to build car and roadside bombs.

There were no reports of Iraqi or coalition casualties, but the military did not say whether any militants or civilians had been killed or wounded.

In a trend of increasing violence, 11 U.S. service members died in the first two days of November, all but one killed in combat.

Of those, three were Marines killed Thursday in combat in Anbar province.

The 11 bring the number of American fatalities in the war to 2,822. Seven contractors working for the Defense Department also have been killed.

[Hurricane Halen]

I think you can expect to see Baghdad looking sorta like L.A did, after the Rodney King verdict was released, just on a grander scale of course. Just hope our guys and girls are fully locked and loaded!

Sheeze this war.....

HH <-----7.62mm........Full Metal Jacket, ahhhhhhh-----------

[space4rent5150]

Our boys and girls wouldnt hae to worrie about this shit had our "wonderfull" president not started all this shit. I fuckin hate bush with a fuckin passion!

[voivod]

they can't live with him, they can't live without him (yet, it's now our fault)

[Axxman300]

Actually, Saddam hanging at the end of a rope will pretty much make the war worth while.

He got a better trial than he ever gave. It's too bad they don't have his son's plastic shredder anymore. Sometimes we're way too civil.

Maybe now we can blow this taco stand.

[smithjc]

Hang 'em High!!

Not that I condone violence, nor do I agree with this war. But somehow this song comes to mind.

I agree, it's the same as the Rodney King verdict on a larger and more violent scale, for sures.

[FORD]

Funny how he's only on trial for shit that happenned 30 years ago.

Maybe because some embarrassing co-defendants would have to be prosecuted along with him for anything more recent?

[KarenCarpenter]

I just saw that on CNN.

There you go, A$$h@!e...

[fast98dodge]

I think they should feed him a bunch of bacon and bathe him in pork fat first...

[Goo]

Merged a couple threads here fellas, no need for 2 on this

[fast98dodge]

Funny how he's only on trial for shit that happenned 30 years ago.

Maybe because some embarrassing co-defendants would have to be prosecuted along with him for anything more recent?

How come everything has to become some Republican-Evil-Conspiracy-Deal??? The bullshit gets fuckin' old after a while... The more you bitch about "Chimpy" and all the other rhetoric, the less credible you are... You come off like the typical fuckin' Greeners here in town... I'm sure you're better than that... Well, at least I would hope so... You wear deodorant and not patchouli, right???

[KarenCarpenter]

Iraq's High Tribunal has sentenced former dictator Saddam Hussein and his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim, to death by hanging for war crimes.

The court also sentenced Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the head of Iraq's former Revolutionary Court, to death by hanging.


Iraq's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Three other co-defendants were found guilty of murder and torture. One defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence.

A trembling Saddam, who wanted to sit but was forced by guards to stand for the verdict, yelled out: "Life for the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!"

This case will now move to an appeal court within the next 10 days, and if the sentence is confirmed, Hussein will face execution within 30 days.

This historic trial wrapped up as Hussein is in the midst of a second trial which began in August, on charges of genocide against the Kurds.


The former Iraqi dictator was found guilty Sunday in the case turning on the mass murder of 148 Shiite Muslims in the town of Dujail in 1982.

Most of Iraq was in lockdown in anticipation of more violence from insurgent groups and Hussein supporters.

Clashes immediately broke out Sunday in north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district, and a Sunni political leader condemned the court decision.

"This government will be responsible for the consequences, with the deaths of hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands, whose blood will be shed," Salih al-Mutlaq, the Sunni politician, told the al-Arabiya satellite television station.

Saddam's supporters had threatened bloodshed if he was convicted at the end of the nine-month trial, and U.S. and Iraqi forces stepped up security Saturday in a country that is in a constant state of martial law.


New security checkpoints sprang up around the city, military patrols have been increased and a main Baghdad bridge that carries traffic past the Green Zone has been blocked off.

The curfew is in place until further notice, keeping people at home and vehicles off the streets. Baghdad's airport was also shutdown.


The clampdown comes as a wave of increased violence sweeps Iraq. Police found the bodies of 87 torture victims throughout the capital over Thursday and Friday, and across Iraq, at least 16 people were killed or found dead on Saturday.

Such heavy security measures haven't been seen in Baghdad since the sectarian bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra last February.

[hatchetforce]

[ZeoBandit]

Hang, Baby, Hang!

[FORD]

How come everything has to become some Republican-Evil-Conspiracy-Deal??? The bullshit gets fuckin' old after a while... The more you bitch about "Chimpy" and all the other rhetoric, the less credible you are... You come off like the typical fuckin' Greeners here in town... I'm sure you're better than that... Well, at least I would hope so... You wear deodorant and not patchouli, right???

Yeah, but I switched to natural enzyme-based stuff. Clogging your pores isn't healthy, and most anti perspirants contain aluminum, and high levels of aluminum in the body have been linked to Alzheimer's disease.

As for bringing up Chimpy and the Republicans when discussing Saddam Hussein, it's impossible not to do so. The CIA (associated with the Bush Criminal Empire from day one) created Saddam in the first place, and Poppy Bush built him up to fight the Iranians. Which is why that famous picture of Rummy exists at all.