Lawyer hopeful that Saddam accomplices will live

Tunis, Jan 6: A defence lawyer for two co-defendants of Saddam Hussein who were sentenced to death along with the former Iraqi leader said yesterday they had a good chance of avoiding execution.

''We are still working hard at the international level and with the world's rights organisations. We have a great hope of staying the hanging verdict,'' said Tunisian lawyer Ahmed Seddik.

Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and his former intelligence chief, and Awad al-Bander, a former judge, were found guilty along with Saddam of the killing of 148 Shi'ite men from the town of Dujail in the 1980s.

Bander presided over the court that ordered the men's deaths.

On Wednesday the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour appealed to Iraq not to execute the two after Saddam's hanging sparked angry protests from his fellow Sunni Arabs and criticism from several European governments.

An Iraqi official said no date has been set to hang the men, but added they would probably be executed next week after a public holiday marking the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival.

''We are taking some judicial measures in Iraq to put a stop to this comedy and the U.S will assume complete responsibility if it hands the suspects over to this nervous Iraqi government,'' Seddik said.

He was speaking in Tunis at a demonstration attended by hundreds of people to condemn Saddam's hanging on Saturday.

Protesters held a huge photo of Saddam and banners reading: ''He who honours a martyr follows in his footsteps'', ''He lived a hero and died a hero'' and ''Victory to the resistance and shame on the mercenaries''.

REUTERS

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