BAGHDAD, Jan 4: The Iraqi government postponed executing two of Saddam Hussein's henchmen on Thursday amid international pressure following the last week’s bungled and much criticised hanging.
Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, the head of a revolutionary court, were to have been hanged on Thursday.A senior official from Prime Minister Nuri alMaliki's office said the execution was postponed `due to international pressure’.
Baha al Araji, an influential lawmaker from radical Shia leader Moqtada al Sadr's parliamentary bloc, said: “I am sure it will be done on Sunday.” Another Shia deputy, Sami al Askari, said the executions would be carried out after the end of Eid holiday. He did not give a precise date.
“The executions will be after the holidays,” said Mr Askari, who was present at Saddam's hanging on Saturday as Mr Maliki's representative.
Mr Askari said there was also a view among some members of the government that the two former officials be hanged after the appeals court decides on a prosecution request to send another Saddam aide to the gallows.
The prosecution has requested that Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former vice- president, also be hanged. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but the prosecution has suggested that this was insufficient.
BAN OPPOSES HANGING: On Wednesday UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was opposed to the death penalty. “The secretary general strongly believes in the wisdom of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person,” she said.
“He fully endorses the call made by (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) Louise Arbour for restraint by the government of Iraq in the execution of the death sentences imposed by the Iraqi high tribunal,” she added.
The US military has expressed concern over the manner in which Saddam was hanged, saying it would `have done things differently’, and Britain has condemned the leaking of the video.
And in the latest implied criticism of the first hanging, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: “We expect Iraqi officials to handle their business with appropriate care. I don't think there's anything more we can say.” Saddam, Barzan and Bandar were found guilty on Nov 5 of ordering the judicial murder of 148 Shias from the village of Dujail in the 1980s. They were sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
