Britain/International: Saddam 's defiance on death.A THINNER but combative Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (born April 28, 1937, Tikrit, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad) President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. told the court in Iraq he would prefer to die by firing squad rather than hang "like a common criminal," as the defiant ex-president made his final scheduled appearance before the tribunal gives a verdict. The prosecution has asked for the death penalty for Saddam and two of the other seven defendants for their role in the deaths of Shiite Muslims in a crackdown following a 1982 assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. attempt against the Iraqi ruler in Dujail. Saddam appeared to hear his court-appointed attorney read a final summation, arguing that prosecution witnesses and documents failed to link the ex-president to any of the atrocities in Dujail. But the 69-year-old Saddam, who has been on hunger strike hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Cesar Chavez in California fasted as religious penance during otherwise political or , denounced the lawyer as his "enemy" and claimed the summation was drafted by foreigners who he has claimed have manipulated the trial. |
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