As American and Iraqi officials planned to meet in Baghdad to set the hour of
his death, Saddam's lawyers asked a US judge for a stay of execution.
The physical transfer of Saddam from US to Iraqi authorities was believed to
be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged.
"We have agreed with the Americans that the handover will take place only a
few minutes before he is executed," a senior Iraqi government official said on
condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Al-Nueimi said US authorities were maintaining physical custody of Saddam to
prevent him from being humiliated before his execution. He said the Americans
also want to prevent the mutilation of his corpse, as has happened to other
deposed Iraqi leaders.
"The Americans want him to be hanged respectfully," al-Nueimi said. If Saddam
is humiliated publicly or his corpse ill-treated "that could cause an uprising
and the Americans would be blamed," he said.
Saddam's lawyers issued a statement Friday calling on "everybody to do
everything to stop this unfair execution." The statement also said the former
president had been transferred from US custody, though American and Iraqi
officials later denied that.
State television ran footage of the Saddam era's atrocities, including images
of uniformed men placing a bomb next to a youth's chest and blowing him up in
what looked like a desert, and handcuffed
men being thrown from a high building.
"The Americans want him to be hanged respectfully.If Saddam is humiliated
publicly or his corpse ill-treated,that could cause an uprising and the
Americans would be blamed."
With US forces on high alert for a surge in violence, people registered to
attend the hanging gathered in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone before
they were to go to the execution site, the Iraqi official said.
（Agencies）
Vocabulary:
death
penalty：死刑
execution：死刑（执行）
on
condition of
anonymity：不愿透漏姓名
handcuffed：上手铐的
（英语点津陈蓓编辑）
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