Iraq carries out first post-Saddam hangings

Reuters AlertNet - Iraq carries out first post-Saddam hangings:

"Iraq hanged three convicted criminals on Thursday, the first time the government has carried out the death penalty since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, government spokesman Laith Kubba said.
..................

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, excused himself on personal moral grounds from signing the death warrant but delegated his powers to one of his two vice-presidents.
..............

European governments and human rights groups had hoped the death penalty would be outlawed in Iraq after the U.S. invasion ended the rule of the Baath party, accused of killing hundreds of thousands of people.

But Iraqi leaders and their U.S. sponsors have other views.
.........................

U.S. President George W. Bush supports the death penalty, and has said he favours death for Saddam Hussein if he is convicted in a trial expected to begin later this year.

Talabani has said that he would never sign a death sentence against anyone, including Saddam himself."