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Hussein execution too risky, lawyer says

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From Times Wire Services

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer warned Sunday of worsening violence in Iraq and chaos across the Mideast if the ex-president is sentenced to death at his trial for a crackdown on a Shiite Muslim village in the 1980s.

Khalil Dulaimi also said he would break a monthlong boycott and attend proceedings today when Hussein’s second trial resumes on separate charges of genocide against the Kurds.

A verdict in Hussein’s first trial is expected Sunday, although the chief prosecutor said it might be delayed to give judges more time to review testimony.

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Hussein and seven others are charged with crimes against humanity in connection with the killing of 148 Shiites from Dujayl after a 1982 assassination attempt against him. Conviction, which can be appealed, carries a maximum penalty of death by hanging.

Dulaimi also said he warned of a civil war in a letter sent recently to President Bush. “I warned him against the death penalty and against any other decision that would inflame a civil war in Iraq and send fire throughout the region,” he said.

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