Saddam will die or return to the presidency: defence lawyer

[Barrett808]

BEIRUT (AFP) - Saddam Hussein does not fear execution and will either face the death penalty for crimes against humanity or return as president of Iraq, one of his lawyers has said in Beirut.

"President Saddam Hussein does not fear execution," Lebanese lawyer Bushra Khalil said, four days before an Iraqi court is due to issue a verdict on whether Saddam and seven co-defendants are guilty or innocdent.

"He will not leave jail to count his days or years (in exile) in Qatar or some other country," she told a press conference Wednesday.

"Saddam Hussein will leave jail to go to one of two things: either the presidency or the grave."

Khalil warned that a guilty verdict over the killing of 148 Shiite villagers from the Iraqi village of Dujail, executed after a failed 1982 assassination attempt, could plunge Iraq and the region into violence.

"Any death sentence will be explosive for Iraq and the region. Any death sentence will be hell for the US army" in Iraq, she warned.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061101/wl_mideast_afp/iraqsaddamtriallawyer

[wakeme2008]

1. This I really do believe

""Any death sentence will be explosive for Iraq and the region. Any death sentence will be hell for the US army" in Iraq, she warned.
"

[requiem99]

2. Of course it will! They'd rather have Saddam than us!!

[DinahMoeHum]

3. You bet your ass it will be. The Sunnis will go VOLCANIC. . .

and look at Saddam as a martyr, especially in the areas around Tikrit.
He is, after all, one of their tribe.

:evilfrown:

[jobycom]

4. I'm sure Bush is counting on that.

He would love to see an explosion of violence in Iraq and the Middle East. He would get to use more of his toys, he would start talking about using nukes again, he would even justify invading Iran through the back door. He might even get his wish and get a new 9-11. Maybe gunmen parachuting into Disneyworld and opening fire, or maybe a few truck bombs outside US schools. Bush is probably salivating at the possibilities.