"Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that the former Iraqi dictator has been transferred to Iraqi authorities for his execution and that a "credible source" had told him Hussein will be executed "very shortly -- in the next couple of hours."  CNN Report

Sources: Hussein execution nears

POSTED: 3:05 p.m. EST, December 29, 2006

Story Highlights

• NEW: Iraqi lawmaker said he saw judge, cleric, and physician at gallows
• NEW: Reports conflict over whether Hussein is in U.S. or Iraqi custody
• Hussein's lawyers say U.S. officials have canceled their meeting with him
• Iraqi prime minister says no delays for hanging, state TV reports

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could face execution within hours, reports from Baghdad suggested Friday.

Giovanni di Stefano, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, told CNN the U.S. military officially informed him that the former Iraqi dictator has been transferred to Iraqi authorities for his execution and that a "credible source" had told him Hussein will be executed "very shortly -- in the next couple of hours."

An adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told CNN that the paperwork for Hussein's execution is in order, and a defense attorney said the hanging could take place "very shortly."

Meanwhile, an Iraqi judge said Hussein "will be executed today or tomorrow," The Associated Press reported.

Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld the former dictator's death sentence, is quoted as saying. "All the measures have been done."

There were conflicting reports Friday about whether Hussein was in U.S. or Iraqi custody.

Hussein's lawyers said they learned he was no longer in U.S. custody in an e-mail from U.S. officials.

Defense attorney Najib al-Nuaimi told CNN the e-mail "means he has been handed over physically to the Iraqis."

Also, state television in Iraq broke into its programming late Friday to announce U.S. officials had handed over Hussein to the Iraqi government for execution.

Around the same time, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Hussein was still in U.S. custody, adding, "My understanding is that there's been no change in his status," Reuters reported.

An Iraqi lawmaker told CNN he had seen Friday the scaffolding where Hussein is to be hanged and said government officials were debating whether to execute the former Iraqi leader on Saturday.

The gallows had been set up in Baghdad's Green Zone, the center of power for coalition and Iraqi officials, said Bahaa al-Araji, a member of parliament from the bloc of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. (Watch what signs point to an imminent execution )

He would not elaborate about the location, but said he saw a judge, a cleric and a physician -- all members who must be present at the execution, according to Iraqi law -- at the execution site.

"These people were told to remain there on standby waiting for orders for the government," al-Araji said.

Iraqi law bans executions during holidays, and the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha begins on Saturday, leading many to believe the execution could take place before then. Hussein's execution had been expected to follow his transfer from U.S. to Iraqi custody.

Hussein faces death by hanging for the killings in the Iraqi town of Dujail nearly 25 years ago.

Ministerial aides said government officials were in an "emergency meeting," and Baghdad was soon to enter its regular overnight curfew.

Earlier Friday, al-Nuaimi, Hussein's lawyer, predicted the execution this weekend, citing "different sources," a prediction shared by Bush administration officials on Thursday, although they cautioned the timing was up to Iraq. (Full story)

"I think the Americans will accompany him onto the execution stage. And I think they will have a pre-recorded film that will be released [Saturday] evening if they carry out the sentence in the day," he said from Doha, Qatar.

Al-Maliki said Friday that nothing will stop or delay the execution, according to Iraqi national television.

There will be "no reviews or delays in the execution of the criminal Saddam," al-Maliki told reporters, according to Al-Iraqiya TV.

Hussein's execution by hanging must take place before January 27 -- 30 days after the Iraqi High Tribunal upheld the death sentence -- according to chief Judge Aref Shaheen.

Hussein 'accepts his fate'

Defense attorney al-Nuaimi linked the timing of Hussein's execution to politics.

"Mr. Bush has decided that prior to the verdict of the [Anfal] trial that he be executed by the end of the year," he said. "It was a political decision, not a fair trial."

Hussein has accepted his fate, al-Nuaimi said. "And he was smiling. I think he will be smiling when the capital punishment is carried out."

American officials have also denied Hussein access to a lawyer, al-Nuaimi said.

The lawyer said he had been in touch with Hussein's eldest daughter, Raghad, who has been trying to negotiate passage from Jordan into Iraq to visit her father before he is executed. She wants to hear any last requests from her father and stands a better chance of succeeding if the execution is delayed until next week, he said.

Raghad Hussein and her sister Rana defected to Jordan in 1995 and were granted government sanctuary. The two have been estranged from their father.

Under Iraqi law, Hussein's lawyers and his family would be notified before the death sentence is carried out.

Cell meeting with brothers

Another defense lawyer, Badie Aref, told CNN that Hussein met with two of his half-brothers in his cell on Thursday and passed on messages and instructions to his family.

"President Saddam was just bracing for the worst, so he wanted to see his brothers and pass on some messages and instructions to his family," Aref said. The half brothers who visited were Sabawi and Wathban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, he said.

Another of Hussein's half-brothers, Barzan al-Tikriti, has been sentenced to death and is being held in Iraq under the same charges as Hussein.

Aref said the U.S. soldiers guarding Hussein took away a radio he kept in his cell on Tuesday so he could not hear news reports about his death sentence, which was confirmed that day. (Full story)

"They did not want him to hear the news from the appeals court upholding the sentence," he said. "They gave him back the radio on Wednesday."

Aref said Saddam found out about the appeals court verdict "a few hours after it was announced."

Guilty of crimes against humanity

Hussein was convicted on November 5 for crimes against humanity in connection with the killings of 148 people after an attempt on his life.

The dictator was found guilty of murder, torture, and forced deportation.

The Dujail episode falls within 12 of the worst cases out of 500 documented "baskets of crimes" during the Hussein regime.

The U.S. State Department says torture and extrajudicial killings followed the Dujail killings and that 550 men, women and children were arrested without warrants. (Watch what some Iraqis think will happen when Hussein dies )

CNN's Aneesh Raman, Arwa Damon, Ryan Chilcote, and Sam Dagher contributed to this report.

All Credit Given to CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/29/hussein/index.html
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"An Iraqi judge who has been asked to witness the execution, Moneer Haddad, told reporters Friday that he had been put on standby for a hanging that could take place "maybe tonight or tomorrow".


Gallows ready for Saddam   (All Credit Given to Agence France Presse 2006)

29/12/2006 19h59

Saddam Hussein
©AFP/Pool/File - Stefan Zaklin

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi officials finalised plans for the execution of Saddam Hussein amid reports the deposed leader could be killed within hours and fears of an insurgent backlash once he hangs.

An Iraqi judge who has been asked to witness the execution, Moneer Haddad, told reporters Friday that he had been put on standby for a hanging that could take place "maybe tonight or tomorrow".

And Sami al-Askari, a member of Iraq's main Shiite parliamentary bloc and a consultant to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said: "All documents relating to the implementation of the execution are compiled and ready."

"Saddam has only a very short time ahead of the implementation of the execution. The execution will be either before dawn on Saturday, or immediately after the Eid holiday," Askari told AFP.

Eid al-Adha, the "feast of sacrifice", will begin at the weekend and last until Wednesday night, and Iraqi officials have already said that it would be unlikely that an execution be carried out during a religious holiday.

Baghdad was rocked by explosions and heavy gunfire as night fell amid conflicting reports over preparations for the execution.

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein listens to prosecutors during his trial
©AFP/Pool/File - Scott Nelson

Maliki himself told the families of some of the ousted president's victims that Saddam would be put to death without delay, as US authorities scrapped a visit to the deposed leader by his defence lawyers.

"Our respect for human rights means we must implement the execution of Saddam and his aides. Those who reject Saddam's execution are undermining the dignity of the martyrs of Iraq," Maliki said, according to his office.

"After the endorsement of the court ruling, no one can prevent the execution sentence against Saddam. There will be neither a revision nor a delay in the implementation of the execution sentence against Saddam and his aides."

Saddam's defence counsel fed speculation about the execution by announcing that he had been asked to send someone to collect Saddam's belongings from the US base where he is being held, suggesting the hour was almost at hand.

"According to information in our possession, Saddam Hussein will be executed Saturday at dawn," said one of Saddam's lawyers who asked not to be identified, adding: "The gallows is ready."

An Iraqi policeman talks on a walkie-talkie in an empty street in central Baghdad
©AFP - Ali al-Saadi

Another lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, told AFP that Saddam had been handed over to Iraqi authorities ahead of his anticipated death by hanging, but this was firmly denied by US officials in Baghdad and Washington.

Dulaimi said he had been asked to come and pick up the personal effects of Saddam and his half brother Barzan al-Tikriti who has also been sentenced to hang for the killing of Shiite villagers in the 1980s.

The White House said Saddam was still in US military custody and that his fate was "an issue for the Iraqi government. We are observers to this process."

The head of Iraq's interior ministry command centre, Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf, said the beleaguered security forces were on high alert ahead of a hanging expected to exacerbate sky-high sectarian tensions.

"Certainly, this is a big event, putting into effect the execution of this serial killer," he said. "We will take measures proportionate to this event. We will put all our forces on the streets so that no lives are jeopardised."

Two Iraqi children walk past a defaced portrait of Saddam Hussein
©AFP - Dia Hamid

On November 5, when Saddam was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death, protests erupted in some parts of Iraq and authorities declared a three-day curfew to prevent attacks by Sunni insurgents.

Khalaf said such a measure could only be decreed by the prime minister, but Iraqi forces stood ready to act once informed of the date of the execution.

On December 26, a panel of appeals court judges confirmed Saddam's sentence and ordered that he and two former aides be hanged within 30 days.

In the almost four years since a US-led invasion drove Saddam from office, the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation has been engulfed in a rising tide of violence between warring political and sectarian factions.

Iraq's Shiite Arab majority and breakaway Kurds welcomed Saddam's fall, but many members of the Sunni Arab minority flocked to the banner of Islamist or pro-Saddam insurgent groups battling his US-backed successors.

The execution, when it comes, can be expected to further deepen the sectarian divide. Shiite hardliners hope that it will knock the heart out of the insurgency, but other observers fear violent reprisals.

All Credit Given To Agence France Presse
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/061229195928.lfqxs99j.html

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"Saddam Hussein will be executed today or tomorrow, an Iraqi judge has said."

Saddam May Hang In Hours

Saddam Hussein will be executed today or tomorrow, an Iraqi judge has said.

There were reports that the US had handed the former dictator had been handed over to Iraqi authorities - but State Department sources denied this.

Iraqi government sources said Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had signed Saddam's death sentence.

American troops in Iraq are on "high alert" to deal with any outbreak of violence following an announcement of his death.

The former dictator's lawyer said he believed Saddam would be executed tomorrow.

"The Americans called the defence team to pick up his personal belongings," said Najib Naimi, a former Qatar justice minister.

"All these indications show he will probably be executed tomorrow."

However, earlier Iraq's deputy justice minister Bosho Ibrahim said: "This is not true. He is still with the Americans."

Anger at a court ruling

The ministry, which is in charge of implementing court rulings, would not execute Saddam before January 26, he said.

But Mr Maliki had insisted there would be no delay in carrying out the death sentence.

"Whoever rejects Saddam's execution would be insulting the martyrs," a statement quoted him as saying.

"After the court upheld the sentence no one can overrule the death sentence against the criminal Saddam."

On Thursday, Saddam's half brothers visited him in his jail cell, Iraqi officials said. The meeting could indicate the deposed leader's execution was approaching.

Although legally in Iraqi custody, US troops have been physically keeping guard over Saddam.

Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 people who were detained after an attempt to assassinate him in the northern Iraqi city of Dujail in 1982.

The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days.

Saddam has been kept at Camp Cropper, an American military prison close to Baghdad's airport.