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IRAQ. FIRST POST-SADDAM EXECUTIONS
September 1, 2005: Iraq executed three convicted murderers, the first time the government has carried out the death penalty since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, government spokesman Laith Kubba said.
"At 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) in Baghdad the first executions were carried out since the fall of the regime, against three criminals," Kubba told reporters.
He gave the names of the men as Bayan Ahmed Said, Ouday Dawood Salman and Dhahar Jasim Hassan. But he declined to say who carried out the sentences. Iraq's presidency had signed the death sentences for the three men, found guilty by a criminal court in Wasit province in southeast Iraq of murder, kidnapping and rape.
"This is not an easy thing to do," Kubba said. "Despite all the condemnation from states who want us to abolish capital punishment, I think capital punishment will help us deter some criminals."
President Jalal Talabani, who opposes capital punishment, did not sign the death sentences, but his deputy signed on his behalf. (Sources: Reuters, 01/09/2005)
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