Former Iraqi Vice President 'to Hang at Dawn'
Iraqi officials request transfer of Taha Yassin Ramadan from US custody for execution tomorrow.
One of Saddam Hussein's deputies will be hanged at dawn for crimes against humanity, it was reported tonight.
Iraqi government officials have asked the US authorities to hand over custody of Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraq's former vice president, so that he can executed tomorrow.
Officials in the Iraqi prime minister's office said US authorities had not yet responded to the request for custody but were expected to as a matter of course.
An appeals court upheld the death sentence against him late last week, despite appeals from UN officials and international human rights groups.
Ramadan's family is appealing to the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, to halt the execution. But legal sources have told Reuters that they expect the sentence to be carried out tomorrow morning.
Ramadan was originally spared the gallows and sentenced to life in prison in the trial of former regime officials for the killing of 148 Shia Muslim men and boys in 1982, after an attempt on Saddam's life in the town of Dujail.
Two of his co-defendants in the Dujail case - his half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court - were executed in January. Saddam was hanged for the Dujail killings in December 2006.
Iraqi government officials have asked the US authorities to hand over custody of Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraq's former vice president, so that he can executed tomorrow.
Officials in the Iraqi prime minister's office said US authorities had not yet responded to the request for custody but were expected to as a matter of course.
An appeals court upheld the death sentence against him late last week, despite appeals from UN officials and international human rights groups.
Ramadan's family is appealing to the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, to halt the execution. But legal sources have told Reuters that they expect the sentence to be carried out tomorrow morning.
Ramadan was originally spared the gallows and sentenced to life in prison in the trial of former regime officials for the killing of 148 Shia Muslim men and boys in 1982, after an attempt on Saddam's life in the town of Dujail.
Two of his co-defendants in the Dujail case - his half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court - were executed in January. Saddam was hanged for the Dujail killings in December 2006.

Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.

Use the form below to email this article to your friends.

- UK Drug Firms Told to Hand Over Files in Iraq Investigation
- US Troops Surge Ends As Violence in Iraq Falls
- Iraq War 'began Last Year'
- British Hopes Rest on Crucial Showdown
- Iraq Still in the Balance, Says Foreign Secretary
- Q&A: The Battle for Basra
- British Exit Strategy Rests on Basra Battle
- Sadr Urges 'civil Revolt' As Battles Erupt in Basra
- The Battle for Basra: Iraqis Fight Mahdi Army As British Troops Remain at Base
- Gun Battles Erupt in Basra
- Iraqi Ally to the U.S. Killed in Bombing; Supporters Vow Revenge
- Sen. Chuck Hagel and Sen. John McCain Square Off on Iraq
- Soldier Gets 100 Years for Raping Iraqi Teen, Killing her Family
- Soldiers in Iraq Save Lives with Silly String
- Suicide Truck Bomber Kills Two U.S. Troops in Iraq
- Three Iraq Veterans Become Citizens
- Bodies of 70 Slain Iraqi Hostages Found
- Russia feels US presence in Iraq a threat to its security
- How Britain helped Iraq set up nerve gas plant: a 'dirty secret' exposed
- Iraq: Iraqis Demonstrate in Wake of Bombing
- Mortar Shells Fired into Baghdad Green Zone During VP’s Visit
- George W. Bush Shoe Attacker Released from Iraqi Prison
- Iraq’s National Security Forces May Have Aided Bombers
- Spate of Blasts Kill at Least 95 in Baghdad
- Alleged Talks Between U.S. and Iraq Insurgents Being Investigated
- Angelina Jolie Visits Iraqi Refugee Camp
- U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Iraq Seen as a Turning Point
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wants to Strengthen Iraq Intelligence
- Clinton Assures Iraq that U.S. Won’t Abandon the Country
- 80 Killed and Many More Wounded in Iraq Suicide Bombings
- Iraq and China Team up on New Oil Field
- Iraqi Shoe Thrower Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison
- American Troops to Leave Iraq in 18 Months
- Iraq Sees Journalist, Shoe Thrower as a National Hero
- President Bush Goes on Farewell Tour, Has to Dodge Flying Shoes



