Curfew as Iraq braces for verdict on Saddam
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said of the upcoming Saddam trial verdict, 'We hope that the verdict will give this man what he deserves for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people.'
'The Iraqi people will express their happiness in a way they see fit and we will call on the Iraqi people ... to remain calm and express their happiness in ... a way that does not risk their lives.'
However, even as he spoke of Iraqi's forthcoming joy at the verdict he simultaneously announced a curfew from 6am today "until further notice". Perhaps he fears the celebrations will be so ecstatic that they will threaten public order? Or perhaps the reason for the curfew is that he thinks the announcement of Saddam's death sentence might spark public outrage amongst some sectors of the populace.
The timing of the verdict, days before the US mid-term elections, makes cynics like myself suspicious that the hand of Rove is at work here and that he was hoping that Saddam's death sentence would help Bush in the final days of the campaign, although I'm sure when this plan was formulated that Rove and the others had no idea that Bush and the Republican Party would be facing such meltdown that the death sentence would have little effect on the eventual election outcome.
Certainly Saddam's lawyers seem to think that the announcement of Saddam's punishment will only set off greater violence, a view that may be secretly shared by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, hence the indefinite and total curfew.
It certainly is hard to portray the trial as anything other than "victor's justice" with a result that all of us knew before the trial even began.One of Saddam's international legal team - former US attorney-general Ramsey Clark - said that a death sentence for crimes against humanity would be 'victor's justice' and would fuel violence in Iraq for decades.
'It's an unfair trial in more ways than you can count. Where have we seen a trial take place in the midst of such uncontrollable violence?
'To let there be worse than victors' justice and the revenge of all enemies at a time like this for Iraq is something history and humanity should not have to bear,' Clark said before flying to Baghdad.
'It will create violence, maybe for generations to come. The trial will go down in history as a disaster for justice. It just went on for too long, with lawyers killed and judges kicked off. When you think of all the things people have said, it's very difficult to see anything happening except a death sentence.'
And when one considers that two trial judges were fired for being "too lenient" to Saddam, the impression is only enhanced.
Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said the verdict had been timed to boost President George W. Bush before US mid-term elections on Tuesday and urged a delay.Many feel the trial has deepened animosities between communities since the American-led invasion. In the village of Awja, Saddam's birthplace in the Sunni heartland of Salahaddin province, many asked for his release. 'If they want peace in Iraq, we demand they stop this farce trial run by Bush and his aides,' said Ahmad al-Nasiri.
As Bush faces mounting criticism over the war, a death sentence two days ahead of tight US congressional polls could be portrayed as a vindication of his policy to overthrow Saddam. And while US officials say Washington has had no say over the court's decisions, throughout the case Iraqi court officials have consulted closely with - and, sources close to the court say, been firmly guided by - US embassy lawyers.
What is clear is the amount the US has invested politically in the trial. In a recent briefing, a US official close to the court said the trial was more significant than those against former strongmen such as Slobodan Milosevic.
'Saddam is being tried by his own people and in his own land,' the official said. 'That is what this trial is about.'
If you believe that, you really will believe anything.
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