http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6123526.stm
Last Updated: Tuesday, 7 November 2006, 15:16 GMT
Saddam calls for reconciliation
It is almost three years since Saddam Hussein was captured
Saddam Hussein has urged Iraqis to seek reconciliation, two days after
being sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity.
"I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake
hands," the former president told the court in a separate trial for genocide.
He is being tried with six others for his role in a military campaign
against the Kurds in the late 1980s.
More than 180,000 people are alleged to have died in the Anfal campaign.
Saddam Hussein was subdued in court on Tuesday, in contrast to his
defiance on Sunday as his death sentence was read out.
Anfal trial timeline
It is not clear if the Iraqi authorities will wait until the second trial
is complete before they carry out the sentence in the first case.
An automatic appeal against the guilty verdict will be launched, to be
decided by a panel of nine judges. A ruling is expected late this year or early
next year, and if the death sentence is upheld, the execution must be carried
out within 30 days.
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging over the killing of 148
people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on
him in 1982.
The Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has made it clear
it wants the execution to take place as soon as possible but some Kurdish
politicians have said they want the Anfal case to be finished first.
Kurdish witness
The Anfal trial resumed as the curfew imposed for the verdict in the
first trial was lifted.
Saddam Hussein and the six co-defendants - all different from his
previous co-defendants - face charges over their role in the Anfal campaign
against ethnic Kurds, many of whom were gassed to death.
Speaking to the court in the afternoon session, Saddam Hussein cited
references to the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus who had asked for forgiveness for
those who had opposed them.
In a markedly different atmosphere to Sunday, his call for mutual
reconciliation came after he had respectfully challenged one witness'
testimony.
Tuesday's first witness told the court that he and other men from his
village had surrendered to Iraqi soldiers after being promised an amnesty.
Qahar Khalil Mohammed, a Kurd, then told the court how they were lined up
and shot by the soldiers. He said he survived despite several wounds, but 33
other people from his village died.
Saddam Hussein rebutted the testimony, saying there was nobody who could
verify Mr Mohammed's account.
The trial has been adjourned and will be resumed Wednesday.
More trials are possible over Saddam Hussein's response to a 1991 Shia
uprising and the repression of the people of Iraq's southern marshlands
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