Friday, October 20, 2006
Iraqi media round-up
Maliki: Saddam Execution Helpful for Iraq
(Asharq al-Awsat) Iraqi prime minister Noori al-Maliki has said he hopes the trial of Saddam will take a short time, and that he will be found guilty and sentenced to death - which will help Iraq. He was speaking at a joint press conference with the Shia hardline cleric Muqtada al-Sadir in Najaf yesterday. He said that by executing the former president, those wanting to come back to power under the umbrella of Saddam and Ba'ath party will lose their last card. The verdict for Dujail trial, in which Saddam is being prosecuted for the murder of 148 Shia in 1980s, is expected on November 5. Saddam and five of his assistants are also being tried for war crimes and genocide against the Kurds in 1988.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat is a pro-Saudi paper issued daily.)
Baker: Iraq In Absolute Chaos
Baker: Iraq In Absolute Chaos
(Azzaman) Former US secretary of state James Baker, heading a congressional committee on Iraq, was shocked when he recently visited the country. He spoke of the complete mess in which Iraq found itself. His ten-member committee is due to submit recommendations for the Bush administration on changing its policy towards Iraq. The committee is planning to propose the gradual withdrawal of American troops and their replacement with Syrian and Iranian forces. It also suggests a greater focus on stability rather than democracy.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)
General Amnesty Proposed in Kurdistan
General Amnesty Proposed in Kurdistan
(Aso) Arez Abdullah, a member of Kurdistan assembly, said it has asked the ministers of interior, health and social affairs to discuss the problems in Kurdistan prisons after representatives of the ministries visited several jails. Abdullah said that the parliament has recently been discussing the possibility of a general pardon and has proposed it to the executive. "In some prisons, you find detainees who have been there for a long period of time without being questioned and others who have served their setences but but not been released," he added. (Aso is a Suleimaniya-based independent newspaper published three days a week.)
