Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's right hand man, was found guilty yesterday of crimes against humanity and jailed for 15 years.
Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and Sabawi Ibrahim, director of public security (half-brothers of Saddam) were sentenced to death on the same charges.
Aziz will appeal against the sentence. However, he still faces charges for the killing and arrest of hundreds of Kurds in the early 1980s.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mission Accomplished
President Bush has finally admitted that it had been a mistake to hang a banner saying "mission accomplished" on a US battleship, where he declared major combat operations in Iraq over in 2003.
"Clearly, putting a 'mission accomplished' on an aircraft carrier was a mistake."
Quite!
"Clearly, putting a 'mission accomplished' on an aircraft carrier was a mistake."
Quite!
Friday, December 19, 2008
British Troops To Finally Come Home
Gordon Brown has stated that most of the 4,100 British troops would leave Iraq by the end of July 2009. However, he has ruled at an enquiry into this most misguided of wars.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Abu Ghraib To Reopen
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is to reopen as a prison in a year, and a facility will be constructed within the prison to act as a museum documenting Saddam Hussein's crimes.
Abu Ghraib has not held prisoners since 2006. A section of the site will be converted into a museum, featuring execution chamber exhibits and other displays of torture tools used by Saddam's regime.
However, there will be no documentation of the abuse carried out there by US military personnel that was revealed in 2004.
Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, is quoted by The Associated Press as saying that the American brutality was "nothing" compared with the violence and atrocities of Saddam and the Baath party.
"There is evidence of the crimes (Saddam committed) such as the hooks used to dangle prisoners, tools used to beat and torture prisoners and ... the execution chambers in which 50 or 100 people were killed at once."
Abu Ghraib has not held prisoners since 2006. A section of the site will be converted into a museum, featuring execution chamber exhibits and other displays of torture tools used by Saddam's regime.
However, there will be no documentation of the abuse carried out there by US military personnel that was revealed in 2004.
Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, is quoted by The Associated Press as saying that the American brutality was "nothing" compared with the violence and atrocities of Saddam and the Baath party.
"There is evidence of the crimes (Saddam committed) such as the hooks used to dangle prisoners, tools used to beat and torture prisoners and ... the execution chambers in which 50 or 100 people were killed at once."
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sanctions Breached
Mabey & Johnson, a British bridge construction company, has admitted that it may have made corrupt payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq to win an export order.
Mabey & Johnson have been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for more than a year.
In its recent annual results Mabey said that in April this year, it "disclosed to the SFO evidence that had come to light suggesting that in 2002 the company may have indirectly made two payments to the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions".
Mabey added that it "has recently been notified of allegations that certain historical contracts may have been procured through corrupt acts".
The company has called in a firm of City lawyers, Herbert Smith, to carry out its own inquiry into all the corruption allegations. New managers have been installed at the firm.
The UN report in sanctions busting alleges that Mabey paid a $202K kickback between 2001 and 2003, and was given a $3.6M contract by the Iraqis.
Mabey & Johnson have been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for more than a year.
In its recent annual results Mabey said that in April this year, it "disclosed to the SFO evidence that had come to light suggesting that in 2002 the company may have indirectly made two payments to the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions".
Mabey added that it "has recently been notified of allegations that certain historical contracts may have been procured through corrupt acts".
The company has called in a firm of City lawyers, Herbert Smith, to carry out its own inquiry into all the corruption allegations. New managers have been installed at the firm.
The UN report in sanctions busting alleges that Mabey paid a $202K kickback between 2001 and 2003, and was given a $3.6M contract by the Iraqis.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
The Way of The World
The veracity of the justification by the Whitehouse for going to war in Iraq has taken another knock.
The journalist Ron Suskind has published a book "The Way of The World" in which he claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge and backdate a handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein, to link the Iraq regime to Al Qaeda.
"The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001. It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq –- thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the vice president's office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq.
There is no link."
The Whitehouse has stated that the claim is nonsense.
Whatever the truth or otherwise of the allegations, no matter what evidence is presented, there will be those who believe them and those who don't.
The journalist Ron Suskind has published a book "The Way of The World" in which he claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge and backdate a handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein, to link the Iraq regime to Al Qaeda.
"The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001. It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq –- thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the vice president's office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq.
There is no link."
The Whitehouse has stated that the claim is nonsense.
Whatever the truth or otherwise of the allegations, no matter what evidence is presented, there will be those who believe them and those who don't.
Monday, July 28, 2008
The House of Saddam
BBC2 at 9:00PM this Wednesday begins broadcasting the House of Saddam, a four part dramatisation of Saddam's time in power.
The series starts in 1979, when Saddam seized the presidency, and ends in 2006 with his execution.
Israeli actor Igal Naor plays Saddam.
Naor said he was asked for blessings by ordinary Arabs, as he filmed House of Saddam in Tunisia.
"We were shooting a few walkabouts that Saddam used to do in the streets of Baghdad.
It involved hundreds of extras and a lot of ordinary Tunisians. Every time I got out of my trailer people were coming to me as if they had never heard of Saddam's death.
They acted as if I was Saddam himself, calling me by his name, asking for my blessing, and wishing me victory in the war.
I checked with the production whether someone asked them to do this. The answer was no."
Nowt so queer as folk!
The series starts in 1979, when Saddam seized the presidency, and ends in 2006 with his execution.
Israeli actor Igal Naor plays Saddam.
Naor said he was asked for blessings by ordinary Arabs, as he filmed House of Saddam in Tunisia.
"We were shooting a few walkabouts that Saddam used to do in the streets of Baghdad.
It involved hundreds of extras and a lot of ordinary Tunisians. Every time I got out of my trailer people were coming to me as if they had never heard of Saddam's death.
They acted as if I was Saddam himself, calling me by his name, asking for my blessing, and wishing me victory in the war.
I checked with the production whether someone asked them to do this. The answer was no."
Nowt so queer as folk!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Knit A Saddam Doll
Those of you with a penchant for knitting may, or probably may not, be interested to know that there is a knitting pattern available for a Saddam doll.
Rachael Matthews has written a book which contains designs for a number of dictators, including; Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, Hitler and Idi Amin.
Why would anyone want to knit a dictator?
Rachael Matthews has written a book which contains designs for a number of dictators, including; Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, Hitler and Idi Amin.
Why would anyone want to knit a dictator?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Banquo's Ghost
Izzat al Douri, a key former member of Saddam's regime who is still on the run, has allegedly released an audio message telling President Bush that this would be a "decisive year" and vowing to continue fighting American forces.
This message, if genuine, is regarded more as an election tactic (an election date has yet to be set in Iraq, but is likely to be called) rather than a direct threat to President Bush.
This message, if genuine, is regarded more as an election tactic (an election date has yet to be set in Iraq, but is likely to be called) rather than a direct threat to President Bush.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Watchlist
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stated that the US has produced a watch list of suspected and known terrorists, containing the names of more than one million people. According to the ACLU the list is growing by an average of over 20,000 records per month.
Among those on the watchlist are rather bizarrely Saddam Hussein who was actually hanged in 2005, decorated war veterans, and US senator Ted Kennedy.
The Transportation Security Administration has flatly denied the one million names figure; they say it contains a "mere" 450,000 people.
So that's alright then!
Among those on the watchlist are rather bizarrely Saddam Hussein who was actually hanged in 2005, decorated war veterans, and US senator Ted Kennedy.
The Transportation Security Administration has flatly denied the one million names figure; they say it contains a "mere" 450,000 people.
So that's alright then!
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