Death sentence for Saddam upheld

BBC News

The court rejected an appeal by Saddam Hussein's lawyers and confirmed that he would be hanged,

At least he is lucky. Iraq uses a gallows, so it should break his neck, killing him immediately. In Iran when they hang someone they tie the rope around his neck, and lift him up with a crane, so he suffocates to death as the rope strangles him.

court spokesman Raed Juhi told the BBC. The appeal was launched after an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein to death on 5 November for the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town Dujail. Under Iraqi law, Saddam Hussein must be executed within 30 days.

And in any event it must happen before April 28, or it may be impossible to execute him at all

"It cannot exceed 30 days. As from tomorrow [Wednesday] the sentence could be carried out at any time," appeals court judge Arif Shaheen told a news conference in Baghdad.