Saddam loses death sentence appeal: Official

Baghdad, Dec 26: An Iraqi appeals court today upheld a ruling that Saddam Hussein should hang for crimes against humanity, Iraq's national security adviser told Sources.

Under the statute governing the Iraqi High Tribunal, the death sentence must be carried out within the next 30 days.

The former Iraqi leader and two former aides were sentenced to death in November for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail after he escaped assassination there in 1982.

''The court just upheld the verdict and sentence,'' Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told Reuters.

When asked if the court had confirmed a November 5 verdict, court spokesman Raed Juhi said: ''Yes, I think so.'' He said he expected the tribunal head to make a statement within an hour.

Saddam's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former judge Awad al-Bander also received the death penalty for their part in the killing, torturing and deporting of hundreds of Dujailis. It was not immediately clear whether they too had lost their appeals.

In a comprehensive report last month, New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned the verdict as unsound, saying the court had been guilty of so many shortcomings that a fair trial had been impossible.

It said the court lacked the expertise for such a complex trial, had failed to give the defence advance notice of key documents, while statements by government officials had undermined its independence and perceived impartiality.

REUTERS