The interim Iraqi government reinstated the death penalty...

The interim Iraqi government reinstated the death penalty for murderers, drug traffickers and those endangering national security. Iraq's interim prime minister Iyad Allawi announced the reintroduction of the death penalty in July.
"We want a restricted death penalty, for a limited time, until there are elections (January 31, 2005) and Iraqis can decide for themselves," Iraq's interim prime minister Iyad Allawi told Spanish daily El Pais on July 7 in an interview. He said the decision was unrelated to the trial of Saddam ? accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide ? but was meant to deal with "indiscriminate murdering by terrorists".
Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin told reporters that he reluctantly backed the law. "This is the most difficult day in my life ... I agreed to it because we must restore security and peace to this country and fight terror, organised crime and the killers," he said. "We would like to be in the future part of the nations that have abolished the penalty," once stability and security have been restored, Amin added.