Iraqi PM warns Saddam execution critics
Mr. Maliki has insisted that the execution of Saddam Hussein is an internal matter
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Saturday, 06, Jan 2007 07:34
Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has threatened to review his country's relations with any states condemning the recent hanging of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Mr al-Maliki insisted that the execution was a "domestic affair" as he faced up to growing criticism in the region amid escalating sectarian tensions between Iraq's Sunni and Shia populations in a speech marking Iraqi Army Day.
Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak recently described the process that saw Saddam Hussein hung on December 30th as "revolting and barbaric" and warned that there was now the possibility of him becoming a martyr figure to militant groups across the Middle East.
But Mr al-Maliki demanded that the outside world respect the legitimacy of the legal process that delivered the verdict.
"The execution of the dictator is a domestic affair. It is related to the Iraqi people alone and we reject and condemn all official and unofficial statements made by some governments," he said.
"The Iraqi government may have to reconsider its relations with any country that does not respect the will of the Iraqi people."
Mr al-Maliki, a member of the Shia majority oppressed under Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule of the country, also attempted to brush aside the criticism of human rights organisations who opposed the death penalty in the case.
"I have to remind the international community and human rights groups where were they when the crimes of Anfal, Halabja, the mass graves and the executions took place?" he asked, referring to the atrocities committed under Saddam Hussein's leadership.