Shiite alliance says Saddam should be executed if convicted

Iraq's most powerful Shiite bloc said Monday it wants former leader Saddam Hussein executed if he is convicted of war crimes by a special tribunal. It called on Iraq's interim president to resign if he refuses to sign the execution order.

The call followed an announcement by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that he will not sign Saddam Hussein's death warrant if he is sentenced to death.

Ali al-Dabagh, a lawmaker from the Shiite United Iraq Alliance, which won the most votes in February's national elections, said everyone in his party believes Saddam should be put to death if he is convicted of war crimes against the Iraqi people.

Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, Dabagh said: "We feel he is a criminal. He is the No. 1 criminal in the world. He is a murderer." He added: "He deserves a trial, and he should be subjected to the law and the court. Whatever the decision, everyone should follow it, even if the president says he cannot sign it."

The alliance controls 140 seats in Iraq's 275-member National Assembly, which convened on Monday.

Topics of discussion ran the full range, from the possible execution of the deposed Saddam, to heavy traffic jams around Baghdad, the capital.

Another Shiite member of Parliament also criticized the Kurdish head of state's comments, particularly in the light of the brutal counterinsurgency campaign launched by Saddam's regime against the Kurdish minority.

"It's surprising the president should adopt such a position," said Sheikh Hassan Shimmari.

Shimmari said the death penalty was supported by both Islamic tradition and Iraqi criminal law.

"The 1969 penal code is very clear and orders the death penalty for anyone guilty of premeditated murder, incitation to murder or assisting in murder," he said, adding that the Koran also allowed for executions.

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday, Talabani said that signing a death warrant for Saddam would go against his beliefs as a human rights advocate and someone who opposes capital punishment.

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