Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
December 4, 2006
Pg. 16
U.S. Confirms Pilot's Death in Crash
By Nancy Trejos, Washington Post Staff Writer
BAGHDAD, Dec. 3 -- Attorneys for former president Saddam Hussein on Sunday formally appealed his death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys from the town of Dujail in the 1980s, a spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal said.
The case will now go to a higher court, which can rule on it at any time. If the court upholds Hussein's conviction, his execution, by hanging, must occur within 30 days, according to Iraqi law.
Raid Juhi, spokesman for the tribunal, said Sunday that two of Hussein's attorneys had submitted the appeal papers.
Hussein was convicted on Nov. 5 of crimes against humanity for the Dujail killings, which took place after an attempt on his life in 1982. Hussein and two of his seven co-defendants, including his half brother, were sentenced to death. Four defendants received prison terms ranging from 15 years to life, and an eighth was acquitted.
Under Iraqi law, death sentences are automatically appealed within 10 days. But defense lawyers must still file a formal appeal within 30 days of the verdict.
A recent report by New York-based Human Rights Watch concluded that Hussein's trial was so seriously flawed that the verdict could be called into question.
Hussein is currently on trial in another case, involving the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.
Deadly violence continued Sunday in many parts of Iraq.
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded at a police station, killing two people, a police official said. Four officers were wounded in the attack.
In Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of the capital, the bodies of 16 people were found handcuffed and blindfolded, said Ali al-Khayam, a spokesman for Diyala province.
In Gharma, near the violence-ridden city of Fallujah, U.S. forces raided a safe house used by foreign fighters, the U.S. military said in a statement. The troops fired on the building, killing five suspected insurgents, two women and a child. Two other buildings used by insurgents were destroyed in the raid on Saturday night, the statement said. Another suspected insurgent was also killed in the operation.
The U.S. military announced that a soldier was killed Sunday in Baghdad. Two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Anbar on Saturday, and two soldiers and a Marine were killed in a separate incident in the volatile western province. One soldier died Saturday when his convoy struck a roadside bomb near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad.
The U.S. military also announced that Air Force Maj. Troy L. Gilbert was killed last week when his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Anbar province. A DNA analysis positively identified his remains Friday.
Gilbert, 34, had been flying in support of ground troops fighting insurgents when his jet crashed Monday. Officials said the incident was under investigation, but Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said last week there was no indication that the jet had been shot down.
Gilbert, of Litchfield Park, Ariz., was assigned to the 309th Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base. He was married and had children.
"He served with courage and commitment and believed in duty, honor and country," Brig. Gen. Tom Jones, commander of Luke's 56th Fighter Wing, said in Arizona.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned a triple car bombing that killed 51 people in Baghdad on Saturday and said families of the victims would receive compensation.
Other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.
December 4, 2006
Pg. 16
U.S. Confirms Pilot's Death in Crash
By Nancy Trejos, Washington Post Staff Writer
BAGHDAD, Dec. 3 -- Attorneys for former president Saddam Hussein on Sunday formally appealed his death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys from the town of Dujail in the 1980s, a spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal said.
The case will now go to a higher court, which can rule on it at any time. If the court upholds Hussein's conviction, his execution, by hanging, must occur within 30 days, according to Iraqi law.
Raid Juhi, spokesman for the tribunal, said Sunday that two of Hussein's attorneys had submitted the appeal papers.
Hussein was convicted on Nov. 5 of crimes against humanity for the Dujail killings, which took place after an attempt on his life in 1982. Hussein and two of his seven co-defendants, including his half brother, were sentenced to death. Four defendants received prison terms ranging from 15 years to life, and an eighth was acquitted.
Under Iraqi law, death sentences are automatically appealed within 10 days. But defense lawyers must still file a formal appeal within 30 days of the verdict.
A recent report by New York-based Human Rights Watch concluded that Hussein's trial was so seriously flawed that the verdict could be called into question.
Hussein is currently on trial in another case, involving the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.
Deadly violence continued Sunday in many parts of Iraq.
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded at a police station, killing two people, a police official said. Four officers were wounded in the attack.
In Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of the capital, the bodies of 16 people were found handcuffed and blindfolded, said Ali al-Khayam, a spokesman for Diyala province.
In Gharma, near the violence-ridden city of Fallujah, U.S. forces raided a safe house used by foreign fighters, the U.S. military said in a statement. The troops fired on the building, killing five suspected insurgents, two women and a child. Two other buildings used by insurgents were destroyed in the raid on Saturday night, the statement said. Another suspected insurgent was also killed in the operation.
The U.S. military announced that a soldier was killed Sunday in Baghdad. Two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Anbar on Saturday, and two soldiers and a Marine were killed in a separate incident in the volatile western province. One soldier died Saturday when his convoy struck a roadside bomb near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad.
The U.S. military also announced that Air Force Maj. Troy L. Gilbert was killed last week when his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Anbar province. A DNA analysis positively identified his remains Friday.
Gilbert, 34, had been flying in support of ground troops fighting insurgents when his jet crashed Monday. Officials said the incident was under investigation, but Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said last week there was no indication that the jet had been shot down.
Gilbert, of Litchfield Park, Ariz., was assigned to the 309th Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base. He was married and had children.
"He served with courage and commitment and believed in duty, honor and country," Brig. Gen. Tom Jones, commander of Luke's 56th Fighter Wing, said in Arizona.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned a triple car bombing that killed 51 people in Baghdad on Saturday and said families of the victims would receive compensation.
Other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.