Iraqi PM hopes for Saddam death sentence

Reuters

IRAQI Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said today he hoped legal proceedings against former president Saddam Hussein would be short and that he would be found guilty and sentenced to death soon. The Shiite prime minister's comments come just one month after his government sacked the chief judge trying Saddam on genocide charges, saying he had sacrificed his neutrality by stating the ousted leader was not a dictator. That prompted criticism by some international legal rights groups, who have said government pressure and sectarian violence in Iraq make a fair trial of Saddam impossible. Mr Maliki met Moqtada al-Sadr today in the holy city of Najaf and held a joint news conference afterwards with the powerful Shiite cleric who heads the Mehdi Army militia and whose followers are in the government...

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