Hussein tells Iraqis to reject hatred

Saddam Hussein declared in a handwritten farewell letter published Wednesday that his execution for crimes against humanity would be a sacrifice for his people and urged Iraqis not to give in to hatred.

“Here I am presenting myself as a sacrifice, if God wants this,” wrote the former Iraqi president. “I invite you now to reject hatred, since hatred will not allow justice and fairness.... I also invite you, brothers and sisters, my sons and Iraq’s sons, strugglers, comrades not to hate the nations that assaulted us.”

The letter was released as shootings and explosions rattled Baghdad for another day, and protesters took to the streets of the Shiite holy city of Najaf after an associate of a radical anti-American cleric was killed in a confrontation with Iraqi and foreign troops.

The U.S. military announced the deaths of six more troops. A Marine was killed in combat Wednesday in Al Anbar province; a soldier was killed Tuesday in a road accident while on a combat mission; a soldier died of noncombat injuries Saturday in Balad; two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad; and a soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad. Their deaths raised the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 2,987, according to the website icasualties.org.

Hussein’s letter was posted on a website used by his Baath Party. Bushra Khalil, a member of Hussein’s defense team, confirmed its authenticity.

The letter was dated Nov. 5, the day Hussein was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity in connection with the execution of 148 men and boys from the Shiite town of Dujayl after a 1982 assassination attempt. It was released after a nine-judge appeals panel upheld the sentence Tuesday.

Hussein said he wrote the letter because he was not given a chance to make a final statement when his sentence was handed down.

“Oh loyal, generous people,” he concluded, “I say farewell and my soul will be with the merciful God who helps those who take refuge in him and doesn’t disappoint an honest believer.”

Aref Shahin, the chief judge of the appeals panel, said the government was obliged to carry out the execution within 30 days. But Khalil said there may be grounds to block it. Hussein’s defense team plans to meet in Jordan today to discuss the next move.

Relatives of those killed in Dujayl and other victims of Hussein’s rule are demanding a public hanging. But government officials said Hussein’s execution probably would be carried out in private before a gathering of select witnesses. They said it might occur within days.

Under the Iraqi Constitution, President Jalal Talabani, a firm opponent of the death penalty, and his two deputies must ratify the executions of Hussein and three codefendants before Prime Minister Nouri Maliki can order them carried out.

However, the code governing the court created specifically to try Hussein and members of his regime does not permit any change once the sentence is ratified by the appeals panel.

“We have a contradiction here,” Khalil said by telephone from Lebanon. “In such cases everywhere in the world, it is the constitution that is regarded as the highest law of the land.”

Talabani’s spokesman, Hiwa Osman, said Tuesday that the president regarded the issue of sentencing as a matter for the judiciary. In previous cases, Talabani has deputized one of his vice presidents to sign on his behalf.

“The fact of the matter is that this [signature] is more ceremonial than it is official,” said Mariam Rayis, Maliki’s legal advisor. “The sentence will be carried out regardless of whether they actually sign or not. Hussein is entitled to draw up a will, visit with his family and select a last meal.

“He could even give a speech if he wants to,” she said, then paused before adding, “to the walls in his cell.”

The planned execution comes amid surging sectarian bloodshed in Iraq. Sunni political leaders have warned that hanging Hussein could enflame violence and intensify attacks against U.S. troops.

Politicians close to Maliki said the prime minister wanted the sentence carried out quickly to deny insurgents an opportunity to plan revenge attacks or attempt to free Hussein. But Education Minister Khudair Khuzai said the prime minister and other Cabinet members also wanted to avoid a distasteful public display.

“It would be the joy of millions of Iraqis to see him hang on television, but ethically we cannot do this,” he said.

Among those hoping for an invitation to the execution is the mayor of Dujayl, Mohammed Zubaidi, who spent years in jail and lost his father and brother to Hussein’s reprisals.

“This is my life’s dream, to see him hang and take revenge not only for me but for the thousands of Iraqis who have been killed,” Zubaidi said.

Meanwhile, in Najaf, at least 2,000 mourners in black chanted, “No, no to America,” during the funeral procession for Saheb Amiri, an associate of radical cleric Muqtada Sadr.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV said Amiri was suspected of planning and supplying materials for roadside bombings, including an October attack on the Najaf police chief, and that he was killed when he fired at an Iraqi soldier.

Abdul Razzaq Naddawi, a Sadr official in Najaf, said Amiri was killed in front of his wife and children, and that he did not belong to Sadr’s Al Mahdi militia. He urged Sadr’s followers not to lash out at U.S. forces, who handed over responsibility for security in Najaf to provincial authorities last week.

American troops could be seen patrolling in greater numbers Wednesday in Baghdad’s Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, an Interior Ministry source said.

Caldwell said the U.S. troops were trying to root out death squads, which have been linked both to the Al Madhi militia and the Badr Brigade, a militia associated with another Shiite party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

He said coalition forces were still holding two of five Iranian men detained in raids Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 in Baghdad’s central Jadriya neighborhood. During the later raid, the military seized evidence that linked the two men to illegal weapons shipments to armed groups in Iraq, including documents, maps, photographs and videos, Caldwell said.

Four of the men arrested, including the two still held, were diplomats visiting Iraq at the invitation of Talabani, according to an official at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad who spoke on condition of anonymity.

At least 23 people died Wednesday in bombings, gunfire and other violence across Iraq. And at least 50 unidentified bodies were recovered in the 24-hour period ending Wednesday, according to the Interior Ministry.

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zavis@latimes.com

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Times staff writers Mohammed Rasheed, Raheem Salman and Said Rifai in Baghdad, and special correspondents in Baghdad, Babil, Hillah, Najaf and Tehran contributed to this report.