Saddam faces quick execution

BAGHDAD – Saddam Hussein and two top aides convicted with him will be executed immediately after an appeals court confirms their sentences and may be buried in secret, an official said Tuesday.

A senior Iraqi government official said he fully expected the judicial panel studying the ousted dictator’s appeal to confirm death sentences on Saddam, his half brother Barzan al-Tikriti and a former judge, Awad Al-Bandar. “We are considering the possibility of executing the three, Saddam, Barzan and Bandar at one time on the same day,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the court is supposed to be independent.”We may bury Saddam at a secret location,” he said.”His body may later be handed over to his relatives, as under Muslim rituals we can exhume the body after it is buried.But one thing the government will ensure is that there is no memorial built for Saddam anywhere in Iraq.”Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging on November 5 for ordering the execution of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail after he escaped an assassination bid there in 1982.Nampa-Sapa”We are considering the possibility of executing the three, Saddam, Barzan and Bandar at one time on the same day,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the court is supposed to be independent.”We may bury Saddam at a secret location,” he said.”His body may later be handed over to his relatives, as under Muslim rituals we can exhume the body after it is buried.But one thing the government will ensure is that there is no memorial built for Saddam anywhere in Iraq.”Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging on November 5 for ordering the execution of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail after he escaped an assassination bid there in 1982.Nampa-Sapa