IRAQ. SADDAM MAY BE EXECUTED BEFORE ALL CASES DECIDED

Saddam Hussein could be executed before the Iraqi Special Tribunal finishes charging him with all his alleged crimes, a source close to the tribunal said. His first trial, along with seven co-defendants, was set to begin on October 19. It would weigh charges that they massacred 143 people in Dujail, a predominantly Shiite town north of Baghdad, in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt. If convicted, Saddam could be sentenced to death. If Saddam were to be sentenced to death in the Dujail case, he would also begin his appeals process, the official said. Should he lose his appeal, he'd be executed 30 days later. That could occur, the official continued, "before all the cases have been decided." Reactions were mixed among Kurdish and Shiite National Assembly members to the possibility that Saddam might be executed for just one of what they say were hundreds of brutal acts. "We want Saddam to be tried for each case. However, we want the procedures to be quick," said Baha Araji, a Shiite assemblyman said. "We want them to carry out the capital punishment as soon as possible."