Saddam Letter Urges Iraqis Not to Hate

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Saddam Letter Urges Iraqis Not to Hate

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BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 27, 2006 (AP)—

Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis not to hate
the U.S.-led forces that invaded Iraq in 2003 in a farewell letter
posted on a Web site Wednesday, a day after an appeals court upheld the
former dictator's death sentence and ordered him to be hanged within
one month.

One of Saddam's attorneys, Issam Ghazzawi, confirmed to The
Associated Press in Jordan that the letter was authentic, saying it was
written by Saddam on Nov. 5 the day he was convicted by an Iraqi
tribunal for ordering the killings of scores of Shiite Muslims in the
city of Dujail in 1982.

"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.

Ghazzawi said the letter was released on Tuesday and published on Saddam's former Baath Party's Web site on Wednesday.

The deposed leader said he was writing the letter because his
lawyers had told him the Iraqi High Tribunal which tried his case would
give him an opportunity to say a final word.

"But that court and its chief judge did not give us the chance to
say a word, and issued its verdict without explanation and read out the
sentence dictated by the invaders without presenting the evidence,"
Saddam wrote.

"Dear faithful people," Saddam 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."

The letter was released as Saddam's last legal means of avoiding
execution came under question. A spokesman for President Jalal Talabani
said Wednesday the appeals court order upholding the death sentence
might not require Talabani's approval to carry out the execution.

Iraqi officials had said such a decision must be ratified by
Talabani and Iraq's two vice presidents. But presidential spokesman
Hiwa Osman said that was not necessarily the case.

"Some people believe there is no need for his approval," Osman said.
"We still have to hear from the court as to how the procedure can be
carried out."..........Read More