CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World :: Saddam to Iraqis: Be like Jesus, forgive

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: World :: Saddam to Iraqis: Be like Jesus, forgive

November 8, 2006

BY SINAN SALAHEDDIN AND ROBERT H. REID

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A somber and subdued Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to ''forgive, reconcile and shake hands'' as he returned to court Tuesday for his Kurdish genocide trial two days after being sentenced to death in a separate case.

Iran urged Iraq to disregard calls for clemency and hang the ousted president, saying Saddam's ''very existence is anti-human.''

The startling call from Saddam came after he rose during the afternoon session to question the testimony of the witnesses, who told of a mass killing of Iraqi Kurds in the 1987-88 Operation Anfal crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas.

'Reconcile and shake hands'

Saddam then calmly spoke about how the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ asked for forgiveness for those who had opposed them.

''I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands,'' Saddam said before resuming his seat.

The former president's demeanor was far different from his combative performance Sunday, when another court convicted him in the deaths of about 150 Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail in 1982.

Saddam and two others were sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam thundered ''Long live the people and death to their enemies'' when the sentence was imposed.

On Tuesday, however, Saddam, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, sat quietly along with the six other defendants in the Anfal case, calmly taking notes as four Kurdish witnesses gave their testimony. AP