Bombs hit Baghdad as Saddam is back in court

BAGHDAD – A wave of car bombs hit Baghdad yesterday, killing at least eight people and wounding nearly 80 as the trial of Saddam Hussein heard his signature was on documents linking him to the killings of 148 people.

The bloodshed comes while Prime Minister-designate Jawad al-Maliki works on choosing a cabinet, which will share power among Shi’ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds in a bid to end the sectarian violence that threatens to drag Iraq into a civil war. Two car bombs near Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University, killed at least five people and wounded 25 others.Another bomb near the health ministry in the city centre killed three and wounded 25, police said.Four more bombs across the city wounded at least another 27 people.Maliki has four weeks to choose a new cabinet and form a government of national unity, widely seen as the only way to halt sectarian violence.The cabinet and Maliki’s own appointment, made by President Jalal Talabani on Saturday, must be ratified by parliament.A key test of his ability to lead and to unite will be his choice of interior minister, perhaps the most sensitive post given the brutal past many Iraqis endured under Saddam’s rule and a present wracked by relentless instability and violence.”We want nothing but security and a safe community in which we can live and raise our children safely,” said Wael Khamis, a 44-year-old businessman.”Despite all that happened, I think we can still make a new beginning and forget the past if the new government makes a genuine good beginning by forming a cabinet away from sectarian interests and the militias.”All we have now is a hope and a dream of a better life.The coming government is our last chance.My wish is to take my family on a car ride without fear.”The court trying Saddam and six others heard signatures on documents linking them to the killing of 148 Shi’ites in the 1980s were genuine.”The signatures and margins stipulated in the documents match the signature of Saddam Hussein on presidential decrees,” said the report read out by a judge.The prosecution had demanded the court commission a team of criminal experts to authenticate signatures and handwriting of the defendants facing charges of crimes against humanity.Saddam and his half brother Barzan al-Tikriti have refused to give samples of their writing but both have said there was no crime in prosecuting the 148 from the village of Dujail because they were accused of trying to kill the former leader.The defendants could face death by hanging if found guilty.- Nampa-ReutersTwo car bombs near Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University, killed at least five people and wounded 25 others.Another bomb near the health ministry in the city centre killed three and wounded 25, police said.Four more bombs across the city wounded at least another 27 people.Maliki has four weeks to choose a new cabinet and form a government of national unity, widely seen as the only way to halt sectarian violence.The cabinet and Maliki’s own appointment, made by President Jalal Talabani on Saturday, must be ratified by parliament.A key test of his ability to lead and to unite will be his choice of interior minister, perhaps the most sensitive post given the brutal past many Iraqis endured under Saddam’s rule and a present wracked by relentless instability and violence.”We want nothing but security and a safe community in which we can live and raise our children safely,” said Wael Khamis, a 44-year-old businessman.”Despite all that happened, I think we can still make a new beginning and forget the past if the new government makes a genuine good beginning by forming a cabinet away from sectarian interests and the militias.”All we have now is a hope and a dream of a better life.The coming government is our last chance.My wish is to take my family on a car ride without fear.”The court trying Saddam and six others heard signatures on documents linking them to the killing of 148 Shi’ites in the 1980s were genuine.”The signatures and margins stipulated in the documents match the signature of Saddam Hussein on presidential decrees,” said the report read out by a judge.The prosecution had demanded the court commission a team of criminal experts to authenticate signatures and handwriting of the defendants facing charges of crimes against humanity.Saddam and his half brother Barzan al-Tikriti have refused to give samples of their writing but both have said there was no crime in prosecuting the 148 from the village of Dujail because they were accused of trying to kill the former leader.The defendants could face death by hanging if found guilty.- Nampa-Reuters