Source: Azzaman (Iraq Daily)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants to have more than 1,000 Iraqi detainees executed before the general elections scheduled for January 2010.

The detainees were tried in Iraqi courts and tribunals and have been sentenced to death. Capital punishment is permissible in Iraq and apparently Iraqi courts find it easy to pass the penalty.

Maliki has been under immense pressure to show mercy but observers believe his determination to go ahead and implement the death sentences is politically motivated.

“Maliki wants to win over the electorate by showing that he is resolute in liquidating elements belonging to the former regime and the groups the government sees as terrorists,” said an observer on condition of anonymity.

Among those sentenced to death are eight senior aides of former leader Saddam Hussein.



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