Saddam's last message: ‘Do not hate'
Globe and Mail (UK) | Saddam's last message: ‘Do not hate'
“I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking,” the letter said....
“Dear faithful people,” Mr. Hussein added, “I say goodbye to you, but I will be with the merciful God who helps those who take refuge in him and who will never disappoint any honest believer.”...
Some Iraqis said Mr. Hussein should be hanged immediately, but others feared Iraq's bloodletting could escalate if the former dictator is executed at a time when sectarian attacks are already on the rise.
“Executing him now is dangerous. The situation is very bad. Things need to be calmer,” said Saadia Mohamed Majed, a 60-year-old Shiite in Baghdad who wants the penalty to be postponed for at least three years. Shiites endured persecution under Mr. Hussein and his fellow Sunni Arab leaders, and many are eager to remove a symbol of the old regime....
An expert on war crimes speculated the sentence might be carried out very quickly.
“I won't be surprised if there's just an announcement in several days saying the sentence has been carried out. The ruling says the sentence has to be carried out within 30 days, but it doesn't say you need to wait,” said Michael Scharf, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.