In an ominous sign for Saddam Hussein, the first executions in Iraq since the toppling of Saddam are due to be carried out in the next few days.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said:
"The president (Jalal Talabani) has signed three death sentences and the next few days will see the first executions in Kut,".
Three members of the Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Sunna were sentenced to death in May; this verdict was approved by the Supreme Council for Justice, the highest judicial authority in Iraq.
These are the first death sentences to be announced by Jaafari's government, since capital punishment was suspended by US authorities following the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Amnesty International have condemned the death sentences.
Quote:
"We condemned the passing of death sentences in Iraq before 2003, and we also condemn them now,".
"In those cases the charges are so serious and the evidence so clear that quite a few people from the old regime (in Iraq) will probably face the death sentence,".
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