White Iraqiya chairman urges no ratification of Sultan Hashem’s execution

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Chairman of the White Iraqiya List, Hassan al-Allawi, has called on the Iraqi Parliament to interfere to prevent the execution of Iraq’s former Defense Minister, Sultan Hashem, considering such a decision to be an opportunity for compromise among the people of Iraq.   “The Iraqi Parliament is demanded to request that the Iraqi Presidency not implement the execution of former Defense Minister, Sultan Hashem,” Allawi told a news conference held at the Parliament building, attended by IraqiNews.com news agency.  Allawi continued, pointing out that Hashem’s “execution, along with a group of other former officials, would be a grave mistake.”   “Sultan Hashem was not involved in any security missions, and was not been a party member. His execution was the responsibility of the Americans, who were behind the attempts to execute him,” he added.   Allawi demanded “the Parliament’s members, including Shiites, call on the Presidency not to sign the execution of Sultan Hashem.”  “Lifting the execution decision against Sultan Hashem will be a chance for compromise between the Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq,” he pointed out.    Noteworthy is that Iraq’s President, Jalal Talabani, and his 2nd Vice-President, Tareq al-Hashemy, had refused to ratify the execution sentence, issued in 2008 against Sultan Hashem and Hussein Rashid al-Tikrity. They did however, approve the execution death sentence against Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” who was sentenced for his role in the mass executions in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in 1988, which Kurdish figures report as having left 180,000 people dead.   SKH (TR)/SR 408