IRAQ. PRESIDENT SPARKS DEBATE OVER SADDAM DEATH PENALTY

it was reported that an announcement by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that he would not sign Saddam Hussein's death warrant if he received the death penalty for war crimes sparked heated debate in the country.
MP Sheikh Hassan Shimmari representing Iraq's long oppressed Shiite majority criticised the Kurdish head of state's comments, particularly in the light of the brutal counter-insurgency campaign launched by Saddam's Sunni Arab-dominated regime against the Kurdish minority.
"It's surprising the president should adopt such a position," said 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 BBC broadcast on April18, Talabani said he would not sign any death warrant for Saddam because of his longstanding opposition to the death penalty.
But he accepted that he formed part of a three-man presidency with Shiite and Sunni Arab deputies who "must decide in a majority".
Both Adel Abdel Mahdi and Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar had previously expressed support for the death penalty for Saddam.