IRAQ STAYS EXECUTIONS OF TWO FORMER SADDAM OFFICIALS

Iraq stayed the execution of two of Saddam Hussein’s top military officials. Former defense minister Sultan Hashim and former army chief of staff Hussein Rasheed were sentenced to death in June 2007 because of their involvement in a brutal campaign against Kurdish minorities in 1988. Iraq’s Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi said the presidency council agreed to suspend the death sentences.