9.5 |
June 2006 to 27 June 2007
On Saturday
30 December 2006 Saddam Hussein was hanged, having been
sentenced
to death
on 5 November for the killing of 148 Shia in the town of Dujail in
the 1980s.200
Only a
small number of people witnessed the execution but film of the
moments leading
up to it
was shown on Iraqi state television. Footage showing the execution
itself later
appeared on
the internet, apparently captured using a mobile
phone.
After the
hanging, Mrs Beckett said:
“I welcome
the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried for at least some of
the
appalling
crimes he committed against the Iraqi people. He has now been held
to
account.
The British Government does not support the use of the death
penalty,
in Iraq or
anywhere else … We have made our position very clear to the
Iraqi
authorities,
but we respect their decision as that of a sovereign
nation.”201
Appearing
at a joint session of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Select
Committees on
11 January
2007, Mrs Beckett explained:
“We have
continued since the execution of Saddam Hussein to express our
concerns
and our
opposition to the implementation of the death penalty. My
understanding
is that the
government of Iraq continues to take the view that this is a matter
for
367.
On 3 January
2007, Mr Dowse provided Sir Nigel Sheinwald with an
update
on Iranian
officials arrested during raids in Baghdad on 20/21 December
2006.203
Two had
been released within 24 hours. The remaining four had been released
into
Iraqi
custody on 28 December and left for Iran the following day. The MNF
continued to
hold eight
minor Badr officials who were originally arrested with the
Iranians. Mr Dowse
commented:
“Much of
what has been revealed so far ties in with our previous
assessments
of Iranian
activities and intent in Iraq: they seek to maintain Shia unity;
enhance
their political
influence in the main Shia parties; and provide military support
where
they
can.”
200
BBC
News, 30
December 2006, Saddam
Hussein Executed in Iraq.
201
Statement
by Margaret Beckett, 30 December 2006.
202
Select
Committee on Defence, Examination
of witnesses, 11
January 2007, Q45.
203
Minute
Dowse to Sheinwald, 3 January 2007, ‘Update: MNF detention of
Iranian officials’.
69