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Iraq Announces Curfews Ahead Of Hussein Verdict

November 4, 2006 -- Iraqi authorities have ordered curfews in the capital and two neighboring provinces and closed Baghdad's airport in an effort to avert violence ahead of an expected verdict in the Saddam Hussein trial.

The changes were expected to take effect early on November 5, the day the verdict is scheduled to be issued.

Many Iraqis predict a firestorm if the former president is sentenced to death for his alleged role in killing about 150 Shi'a after an assassination attempt against him in 1982. Hussein, 69, is accused along with seven codefendants of crimes against humanity.

Curfews are not unusual in Iraq, where authorities impose them at sensitive times and on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer, Reuters noted.

But Hussein's lead lawyer accused the court of timing its verdict to coincide with midterm elections in the United States on November 7. Reuters quoted Khalil al-Dulaimi as requesting a delay in the reading of the verdict and cautioning that there would be violence if the former strongman was sentenced to die.

The curfew will be imposed on the capital and Hussein's home province of Salahaddin, as well as the province of Diyala, according to the country's national security adviser.

Hussein is expected back in court on November 7 for the start of a trial in which he is accused of genocide against Kurds.

(Reuters, AFP)

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org