Re: saddam to hang
Hussein attorney predicts client will be executed 'very shortly'
ROME (CNN) -- One of Saddam Hussein's defense attorneys said Friday he believes the former Iraqi president will be executed "very shortly."
Givanni di Stefano told CNN in a telephone interview he was officially informed by the U.S. military that the former Iraqi dictator has been transferred to Iraqi authorities for his execution.
Di Stefano said in a telephone interview that a "credible source" informed him that Hussein will be executed "very shortly -- in the next couple of hours."
The attorney refused to identify the source but said he considers the information authoritative. --From CNN's Ed Henry (Posted 2:24 p.m. )
MP: Iraqi government seeking opinion of Muslim clerics on timing of Hussein's execution
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- An Iraqi lawmaker told CNN Friday the government is consulting Muslim clerics about whether it would be appropriate to conduct the execution of Saddam Hussein at the beginning of a religious festival.
There has been speculation that Hussein would be executed before Eid Al-Adha -- a holiday period that means Feast of the Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims over the world at the conclusion of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Eid starts Saturday for Sunnis and Sunday for Shiites and lasts for four days. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.
Baha al-Araji, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Muqtada al-Sadr bloc, said the government is seeking the "opinion of clerics, both Sunni and Shiite, whether they can carry out the death sentence against Saddam on Saturday since it's the start of Eid."
"The clerics would issue a fatwa saying that due to exceptional circumstances the death sentence can be carried out," said al-Araji, whose political movement represents Shiite Muslims. (Posted 2:06 p.m. )
