politburo diktat 2.0

it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” — Samuel Johnson

Subdued Saddam preaches forgiveness

SADDAM Hussein has called on all Iraqis to unite and “forgive” each other, two days after being condemned to death by hanging at an Iraqi court.

At a second trial in which he faces charges of genocide, the deposed Iraqi dictator attempted to strike a somewhat reconciliatory tone and was noticeably more subdued than on his previous court appearance, in which he shouted over the judge as his death sentence was announced.

“I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands,” he said today after questioning a witness who testified against him in the ongoing trial for his role in a military campaign against Kurds in the 1980s.

On Sunday, Saddam was sentenced to death in a separate trial for crimes against humanity, for ordering the brutal killing of 148 Shias in the village of Dujail in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt on his life. Iraq’s high tribunal also issued the death penalty to Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half-brother, and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, the head of the ousted regime’s Revolutionary Court.