Life of Guangzhou - Saddam May Not Hang Within Month

Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reacts in court during the Anfal genocide trial in Baghdad December 21, 2006. Saddam, due to be hanged within 30 days, said in a letter made public on Wednesday that his execution would be a sacrifice for his country and called on Iraqis to unite and fight U.S. forces. [Photo: Reuters]

Iraqi officials backed away on Thursday from suggestions they will definitely hang Saddam Hussein within a month, amid speculation the government is divided over whether to execute the ousted leader quickly.

As the U.S. military death toll in Iraq hit 100 for the month of December so far, closing in on 3,000 after nearly four years of war, President George W. Bush met advisers at his Texas ranch to discuss new tactics in Iraq.

The sentencing of Saddam on November 5 for crimes against humanity by a U.S.-sponsored Iraqi court was hailed by the Bush administration as a vindication of the 2003 invasion and proof of Iraqi democracy. But as the country slides toward sectarian civil war, Saddam's fate is bound up with factional disputes.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had said he wanted Saddam hanged this year for the killings, torture and other crimes against the Shi'ite population of the town of Dujail in the 1980s. But some of Saddam's fellow Sunnis have warned this could reinforce their alienation and many ethnic Kurds want Saddam first convicted of genocide against them.

The Iraqi High Tribunal confirmed in a Web posting that an appeal against Saddam's death sentence had failed. The judge who first announced the ruling on Tuesday had referred to a statute which says hangings must take place within 30 days of the failure of an appeal.

But two senior officials told Reuters on Thursday that the execution would only happen within 30 days if Iraq's president issues a decree ordering an immediate execution -- which seems unlikely. If he does not do so within that time, the Justice Ministry can carry out the sentence at any date of its choosing.

MINISTRY WAITING

The cabinet and president have declined requests for comment on the timing. Under the penal code, a religious holiday lasting until January 6 means no execution should take place before then.

"The Justice Ministry will not implement it before one full month is up," said Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim, from the Kurdish minority

"After one full month the Justice Ministry can decide when it will carry out the execution," he added.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has refused to sign death warrants in other cases but has delegated his powers to his Shi'ite and Sunni vice presidents. In any event, both the constitution and High Tribunal statutes deny the presidency the power to block executions ordered for such serious crimes.

Tribunal spokesman Raed Jouhi said: "There are two options.

"In death sentences issued by our court, if there is a presidential decree within 30 days, then they can carry it out at any time. But if there is no decree, then after these 30 days it becomes obligatory in any case and it will be up to the Justice Ministry to decide when it wants to carry it out."

The United States has welcomed the court's ruling on Saddam and two aides who face similar sentences. However, there have been security concerns over the possibility of Sunni unrest if the executions go ahead.

Violence is already killing dozens of people a day and has forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to flee their homes, many of them leaving the country altogether. In the past month alone, over 100,000 have registered for aid as internal refugees.

The U.S. military reported five more military deaths on Thursday, taking the number to die since the March 2003 invasion to at least 2,989. A car bomb near a Baghdad stadium killed 10 people and two other bombs killed a further seven in the city.