Iraqi women want Saddam dead

2005-10-30 16:22

Najaf - Around 100 women dressed in black marched on Sunday in Najaf, the holy Shiite city south of Baghdad, to demand that ex-president Saddam Hussein be put to death.

"No to an adjournment, yes to the death penalty," chanted the women, clad in black abayas as they made their way from the school of religious studies down the city's main thoroughfare.

The women carried banners which read: "The cries of martyrs echo still, we demand the death of Saddam Hussein," as well as photos of victims of his regime.

Saddam and seven co-defendants stood trial for the first time on October 19, but after a three-hour hearing, the Iraqi special tribunal - now known as the Iraqi high tribunal - adjourned until November 28.

The accused are charged with the deaths of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad, in July 1982 and could face death by hanging if convicted.

Other posters pressed the Najaf court to severely punish "terrorists" now in detention, in reference to suspects arrested following attacks on Shiites in the city.

The march was sponsored by two leading Shiite groups - the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and followers of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr.

- AFP