Saddam loses appeal against death penalty

BAGHDAD: A panel of Iraqi judges has upheld the death sentence passed against Saddam Hussein, a spokesman for the court said on Tuesday, in a decision that could see the ousted dictator hanged within 30 days.

"The appeals court has ratified the sentence of the execution of Saddam," Judge Raed Jouhi said.

Under Iraqi law a death sentence, once confirmed at appeal, should be carried out within a month. Jouhi would not confirm that this would be the case, however, saying that this was a matter for "the executive".

Saddam was sentenced to death in November for his role in the execution of 148 Shiites as part of a revenge campaign launched after an assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail in 1982.

The former strongman's conviction inspired conflicting emotions in Iraq.

Members of the country's Shiite majority braved a strict curfew to celebrate the judgement with rowdy street parties, but some members of the once dominant Sunni community held protests.

Saddam ruled Iraq with an iron first between 1979 and March 2003, when he was overthrown by a US-led invasion force. After his capture six months later he was brought before the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad to face trial.