Saddam loses death sentence appeal-govt official

BAGHDAD, Dec 26 (Reuters) An Iraqi appeals court ruled today that Saddam Hussein should be hanged for crimes against humanity, upholding a trial court's verdict and death sentence, Iraq's national security adviser told Reuters.

The execution must follow the decision by the appeal court within 30 days, according to Iraqi High Tribunal rules.

Saddam, 69, and two others, including his half-brother, were sentenced to death on November. 5 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 Nov. 5 verdict, court spokesman Raed Juhi said: ''Yes, I think so.'' He said he expected the tribunal head to make a statement soon.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a member of the Shi'ite majority persecuted under Saddam's Sunni-minority rule, has said he wants the execution before year-end.

His comment drew criticism from human rights groups for appearing to prejudge the ruling of the nine-member Appellate Chamber.

UN human rights experts have called on Iraq's government not to carry out the death sentence, saying Saddam's trial was seriously flawed.

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 had also lost their appeals.

GENOCIDE TRIAL In a separate trial, Saddam is facing charges of genocide against ethnic Kurds in a military campaign that devastated the Kurdish north in the 1980s. Prosecutors have said the campaign included widespread use of chemical weapons, killed more than 180,000 people and destroyed hundreds of villages.

If Saddam is executed then the charges against him in that case will be dropped, but the trial against his six co- defendants will continue.

In a comprehensive report last month, New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned the Dujail verdicts 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.

Saddam's chaotic, stop-start trial was marred by the murder of three defence counsels and the resignation of the first chief judge, who complained of government interference.

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