SULAIMANIYAH (Iraq), Sept 7: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Friday he would not sign the execution order of a top Saddam aide whom he personally had “provoked” to rebel against the executed leader.

Talabani said he would refuse to sign the order of Sultan Hashim al-Tai, a senior officer who became defence minister during Saddam’s rule, if the approval of his three-member presidency is sought by the Iraqi supreme court.

“I had known him (Tai). He had relations with us during Saddam’s regime,” Talabani told a press conference in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.

“We were urging him to revolt against Saddam. How can I today sign his execution order when I was the one who provoked him then to rebel against Saddam. No, No, No. I will not do it.”

Tai, along with Ali Hassan al-Majid who is widely known as “Chemical Ali”, and Hussein Rashid al-Tikrit, the former armed forces deputy chief of operations, are to be executed for their role in the 1988 Kurdish massacre after the Supreme Court confirmed their death sentences on Tuesday.

The three were sentenced on June 24 to hang after they were found responsible for the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds in the so-called Anfal campaign of 1988.

An estimated 182,000 Kurds were killed and 4,000 villages wiped out in the campaign of bombings, mass deportation and gas attacks. Talabani indicated that his signature in any case may not be necessary for the executions to go ahead.

“It the court carries out the decision without approval of the presidency it is something up to them, but if it insists that the presidency must approve then I have some reservations on the executions of Iraqi army officers,” Talabani, a Kurd, said.

“Many Iraqi officers were forced to carry out orders and threatened with death by the former regime. This does not justify the crimes they committed against the Iraqi people but this fact should be considered.” Talabani has previously said that he is against capital punishment.

During the press conference, he also denied reports by an Iraqi news agency that the three condemned men would be hanged on Saturday.—AFP