Spoetnik
05-09-06, 13:49
Tribal leaders insist Saddam be released
By Amit R. Paley and Saad Sarhan
The Washington Post
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A coalition of 300 Iraqi tribal leaders on Saturday demanded the release of Saddam Hussein so he could reclaim the presidency and also called for armed resistance against U.S.-led coalition forces.
The clan chieftains, who were mostly Sunni Arabs and included the head of the 1.5 million-member al-Obeidi tribe, said they planned to hold rallies in Sunni cities throughout the country to insist that Saddam be freed and that the charges against him and his co-defendants be dropped.
Saddam is being tried on charges of genocide and other alleged crimes arising from the Iraqi government's killing and forced relocation of ethnic Kurds in 1988, and he is awaiting a verdict in a trial stemming from mass killings of Shiites in 1982. That trial concluded in late July. During Saddam's dictatorship, positions of power in the military and the ruling Baath Party were held overwhelmingly by Sunni Arabs, who formed the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency after Saddam was toppled in 2003.
"If the demand is not carried out, we will lead a general, sweeping and popular uprising," said Sheik Wassfy al-Assy, brother of the chief of the Obeidi tribe, which hosted the meeting of the clan leaders on Monday in Ramal, a village 55 miles southwest of Kirkuk. "As for whether [Saddam] will be reinstated in his post as president after his release, that will be up to him."
(...)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003241574_iraq03.html
Hmm..
De koerden die dreigen met onafhankelijkheid, Sistani die aankondigt zich niet meer met de politiek te bemoeien. Een grote coalitie sunni's die oproepen tot een intifadah. Tis al erg in Iraq, maar alle tekenen zijn daar dat het dodental flink omhoog zal gaan.
By Amit R. Paley and Saad Sarhan
The Washington Post
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A coalition of 300 Iraqi tribal leaders on Saturday demanded the release of Saddam Hussein so he could reclaim the presidency and also called for armed resistance against U.S.-led coalition forces.
The clan chieftains, who were mostly Sunni Arabs and included the head of the 1.5 million-member al-Obeidi tribe, said they planned to hold rallies in Sunni cities throughout the country to insist that Saddam be freed and that the charges against him and his co-defendants be dropped.
Saddam is being tried on charges of genocide and other alleged crimes arising from the Iraqi government's killing and forced relocation of ethnic Kurds in 1988, and he is awaiting a verdict in a trial stemming from mass killings of Shiites in 1982. That trial concluded in late July. During Saddam's dictatorship, positions of power in the military and the ruling Baath Party were held overwhelmingly by Sunni Arabs, who formed the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency after Saddam was toppled in 2003.
"If the demand is not carried out, we will lead a general, sweeping and popular uprising," said Sheik Wassfy al-Assy, brother of the chief of the Obeidi tribe, which hosted the meeting of the clan leaders on Monday in Ramal, a village 55 miles southwest of Kirkuk. "As for whether [Saddam] will be reinstated in his post as president after his release, that will be up to him."
(...)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003241574_iraq03.html
Hmm..
De koerden die dreigen met onafhankelijkheid, Sistani die aankondigt zich niet meer met de politiek te bemoeien. Een grote coalitie sunni's die oproepen tot een intifadah. Tis al erg in Iraq, maar alle tekenen zijn daar dat het dodental flink omhoog zal gaan.