'Disgust' at Saddam sentence

2006-11-07 15:19

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday expressed "horror and disgust" over the trial and sentencing of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to death.

"Firstly a court set up by his enemies has no right to try Saddam Hussein," said Mahathir, a member of the international committee for the defence of president Saddam Hussein.

He described the Iraqi high tribunal as a "kangaroo court" set up for the sole purpose of rendering a guilty verdict.

"There was no evidence that (ex-) president Saddam Hussein was involved in the killings of Shi'ites in 1982, yet the court found him guilty," he said.

Mahathir said if Saddam was guilty as charged, then US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should be tried for the unlawful invasion and occupation of Iraq and the deaths of over 650 000 Iraqis.

Mahathir stepped down as Malaysian premier three years ago.

Saddam was sentenced to hang by the Iraqi high tribunal, which found him guilty on Sunday of crimes against humanity in the case of 148 Shi'ite civilians who were killed in revenge for a 1982 attempt on his life.

- AFP