WASHINGTON, 5 January 2007 — The White House yesterday urged Iraq to handle the execution of two of Saddam Hussein’s henchmen “with appropriate care” after the controversy over the ousted dictator’s hanging.
“We expect Iraqi officials to handle their business with appropriate care. I don’t think there’s anything more we can say,” spokesman Tony Fratto said after the government in Baghdad postponed carrying out the sentence.
Asked whether US President George W. Bush had seen or planned to watch the widely disseminated footage of Saddam’s execution, Fratto replied “no,” and indicated that the president did not see a need to do so.
Earlier, in Baghdad, a senior official from Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the execution of the two Saddam aides was postponed “due to international pressure.” Barzan Ibrahim Al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half brother and former intelligence chief and Awad Hamed Al-Bandar, the head of the revolutionary court, were to have been hanged yesterday.
Baha Al-Araji, an influential Shiite lawmaker from Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr’s parliamentary bloc, said: “I am sure it will be done on Sunday.”
Another Shiite deputy, Sami Al-Askari, said the executions will be carried out after state holidays for the Eid Al-Adha festival end tomorrow. He did not give a date.
“The executions will be after the holidays,” said Askari, who was present at Saddam’s hanging on Saturday as Maliki’s representative.
Saddam, Barzan and Bandar were found guilty on Nov. 5 of ordering the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys from the village of Dujail in the 1980s. They were sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
Investigators have identified two guards who illicitly filmed Saddam’s execution, an official said yesterday, as the Iraqi government sought to dampen a growing world outrage over the unruly hanging. The mobile phone video of Shiite officials taunting Saddam on the gallows has inflamed sectarian passions in Iraq.
“Two Justice Ministry guards have been arrested. Other guards have identified them as having filmed the hanging,” Askari said.
Separately, Interior Minister Jawad Al-Bolani told a news conference: “The investigation is ongoing and we have identified those who flouted the rules... Even for a dictator like Saddam, the law must be obeyed.”
A prosecutor who attended the execution said he had seen two senior officials filming the hanging, prompting suggestions among some Iraqis that the guards might be used as scapegoats.
The images, which show observers yelling “Go to hell” and chanting the name of Sadr before Saddam falls through the trap, have sparked angry demonstrations by Sunnis in Iraq. Sunnis say it deals a blow to Maliki’s call for reconciliation.
Philip Alston, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said the “humiliating” way in which Saddam was put to death was a clear violation of international human rights law.
The US military, which kept physical custody of Saddam for three years, said it had played no role in the execution and would have done things “differently.”
US media reports meanwhile said Bush could send up to 40,000 more US troops to Iraq when he unveils his revised Iraq policy. Various news reports agree there will be an increase of US forces in Iraq, giving estimates of between 9,000 and 40,000 extra troops. The move could be controversial as the Iraq war is increasingly unpopular with the US public amid a mounting death toll that now stands at over 3,000 US troops.
It is also likely to be opposed by the US Congress, now in the hands of opposition Democrats. The reports however caution that the numbers may vary, and that no final decision has been made.
There are currently 132,000 US troops in Iraq as well as 17,000 members of the US-led coalition from 25 other countries, the Pentagon said yesterday.
CNN television said Bush is looking at sending 20,000 to 40,000 additional troops and that the announcement could come early next week.
