BB FANS

'My Death Is A Sacrifice'
Skynews

Bush Pays Tribute To Ford Skynews

Saddam Execution TV Coverage
US television networks face a dilemma with the impending execution of Saddam Hussein, whose hanging could be filmed and perhaps aired on Iraqi TV.

The timing of Saddam's date with the gallows was unclear, but last night CBS, NBC and Fox News Channel reported that the former dictator would be turned over by the American military to the Iraqi government within 36 hours and hanged before the start of a Muslim holiday on Sunday. This has since been denied by the Iraqi government.

Several sources said Saddam's execution would be filmed by the Iraqi government, though it is unclear whether it would be released to the public or broadcast.

"We will video everything," Iraqi National Security adviser Mouffak al Rubaie told CBS News.

Judging by the Iraqi government's release Tuesday of videotape of the hanging of 13 convicts, it could be a gruesome affair. Meetings were held yesterday in at least two network headquarters over how to handle the potentially graphic images.

ABC and CBS said they would not air the full execution if the video became available.

It seems unlikely that broadcasters in the UK would air any footage of the actual execution. waveguide

Saddam Hussein executed in Iraq
Iraq's former leader Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging for crimes against humanity at a secure facility in a northern Baghdad suburb.

Saddam Hussein dies on the gallows independent

EU and Russia condemn Saddam hanging


The EU has today spoken out against the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

“The European Union has a very consistent stand … on opposing the death penalty and it should not have been applied in this case either – even though there is no doubt about Saddam Hussein’s guilt over serious violations against human rights,” Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said in Helsinki.

Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, had vocally opposed the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam, expressed regret that international opposition to the execution was ignored.

“The political consequences of this step should have been taken into account,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in Moscow.

Moscow warned that Saddam’s death could worsen the discord and violence in Iraq.

“The country is being plunged into violence and is essentially on the edge of large-scale civil conflict,” Kamynin said. “The execution of Saddam Hussein may lead to the further aggravation of the military-political atmosphere and an increase in ethnic and religious tension.”

South Africa called for UN intervention in Iraq: “South Africa remains convinced that his execution is not the panacea to the current political problems in Iraq but could fuel violence in an already volatile situation,” said Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.

The government of the world’s largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, said it hoped Saddam’s execution “will not further separate conflicting parties in the effort toward a national reconciliation, which is a precondition in recovering Iraqi sovereignty”.

Fauzan Al Anshori, from the militant group of Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, said Bush, too, should stand trial.

“Given the crime blamed on Saddam, it is unfair if George Bush is not also put on an international tribunal,” he said. “Saddam was executed for killings 148 people, Shiite Muslims, while Bush is responsible for the killing of about 600,000 Iraqis since the March 2003 invasion.”
breakingnews

Former Iraqi leader's execution 'tragic', says Vatican

A Vatican spokesman today denounced Saddam Hussein's execution as "tragic'' and said it would not help efforts to bring justice, or to reconcile Iraqi society.

The execution is “tragic and a reason for sadness”, the Rev Federico Lombardi said, speaking in French on Vatican Radio’s French news programme.

It “will not help efforts aimed at justice and reconciliation” and “risks increasing violence”, the spokesman said.

He reiterated the Vatican’s opposition to the death penalty. breakingnews

Iran welcomes execution of Saddam


Iran today hailed the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as "enforcer of the most horrendous crimes against humanity", but many Iranians said Saddam should have stood trial for invading Iran and Kuwait before being hanged.

"Saddam, enforcer of the most horrendous crimes against humanity, has been put to death," Iran's state-run television reported.

"With the execution of Saddam, the dossier of one of the world's most criminal dictators was closed," it said.

Saddam was considered Iran's biggest enemy for invading Iran in 1980, a bloody war that lasted eight years and took the lives of more than one million people and left the economic infrastructure in Iraq and Iran almost in ruins.

Iran had asked the court trying Saddam to charge the former leader with crimes from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, such as his use of chemical weapons against Iranian troops.

In Khorramshahr, a port city on the border with Iraq, people honked car horns, sang and danced in celebration, Iranian media reported. Others passed out sweet drinks to passers-by.

Khorramshahr was occupied by Saddam's troops soon after the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980. Iranian forces liberated the city in a decisive battle in May 1982.

In parts of the capital Tehran, residents handed out sweets to passers-by as a sign of celebration for Saddam's death.

"Saddam was a brutal dictator who committed numerous crimes against his own people and his neighbours," said Parvaneh Dousti, a bank clerk, in Tehran. "He brought destruction to Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and the whole Middle East," she said. She was referring to Saddam's invasion of Iran and Iraq.

"Saddam deserved death. I'm so happy that a black era has come to a full end," she said.

Hasan Mohebi, a fruit vendor, said death was too little for Saddam.

"Death was the least punishment for Saddam. He destroyed the lives of millions of people in this region. Saddam will be remembered in history as one of the most hated figures. Today is a day of celebration for all those who suffered from his rule," he said.

Mohebi was selling fruits at half price, a discount to celebrate the hanging of Saddam. He lost a son in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Top politician Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Saddam's trial was too short.

"Saddam's trial was too limited. Still, his execution is a lesson for criminals," he said.

"Saddam was quickly put to death perhaps because Western nations were complicit in many of the crimes Saddam committed. Countries like Germany provided Saddam with chemical weapons technology and the US provoked and supported Saddam's invasion of Iran," he said.

Mohammed Karimi, a taxi driver, said he still didn't believe that Saddam is dead.

"Probably, it was a Saddam double who was executed - not actually him," he said, referring to books published in the past about Saddam having several look-alikes. who would stand in for him.

Sareh Naghavi, a university student, said Saddam's trial should have continued.

"Saddam should have been questioned for all the crimes he committed before being put to death," she said. "He should have been asked to answer why he invaded Iran and Kuwait and why he launched chemical attacks against Iranians and Iraqis."
breakingnews

Saddam hanging will not end bloodshed, warns Bush


US President George Bush called Saddam Hussein's execution a milestone on Iraq's road to democracy, but warned it would not halt the bloodshed and political discord splitting the country.

Bush, who has spent weeks crafting a new US policy in Iraq, warned of more challenges ahead for American troops.

"Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead," he said in a statement released Friday night from his Texas ranch. "Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress."

The president's statement had a sober, measured tone that contrasted with his offhand remark after US troops found the deposed Iraqi dictator in an underground hide-out in 2003.

"Good riddance," Bush said then. "The world is better off without you, Mr Saddam Hussein."

Bush said Hussein received a fair trial - "the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime".

He said the trial, which ended with Saddam being sentenced to death, was a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move beyond decades of oppression and create a society governed by the rule of law.

"Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule," Bush said.

Saddam's hanging comes at the end of a difficult year for Iraqis and for US troops, he said. The US death toll is nearing 3,000, and December is going down as one of the deadliest for American troops since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

"Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the war on terror," he said.

Bush was asleep when Saddam was executed for the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims from an Iraqi town where would-be assassins tried to kill him in 1982. On Monday, Iraq's highest court rejected Saddam's appeal of the sentence and ordered him put to death.

At 6.15pm Friday (12.15am Irish time), national security adviser Stephen Hadley briefed Bush on the procedures for the execution, and told him it would take place in the next few hours. Hadley had been in touch with the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, who had been in contact with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki.

"The president concluded his day knowing that the final phase of bringing Saddam Hussein to justice was under way," deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said.

American sentiment about the war has changed dramatically since the spring of 2003 when jubilant crowds toppled a 40ft statue of the dictator and a dishevelled Saddam, in US custody months later, was seen on television being examined by a doctor who probed his mouth with a tongue depressor.

Then, Saddam's capture boosted Bush's political stature, following months of rising casualties and the manhunt for the former Iraqi dictator, which had damaged US prestige and claims of progress in Iraq.

Now, unrelenting violence and a US death toll nearing 3,000 has sent Bush's approval ratings on the war plummeting to their lowest levels. Some 71% disapprove of his management of the war; almost two-thirds doubt that a stable, democratic government will ever be established in Iraq, according to early December AP-Ipsos poll.

As Saddam's execution drew near, his lawyers lost an appeal in US court to try to stave it off.

In a 21-page request filed Friday, Saddam's attorneys argued that because he also faced a civil lawsuit in Washington, he had rights as a civil defendant that would be violated if he was executed.

But US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who heard arguments from attorneys by phone, rejected the challenge Friday night, saying US courts do not have jurisdiction to interfere in another country's judicial process.

In Iraq, US forces were ready for any escalation of violence, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said hours before Saddam was hanged.

Closer to home, the FBI and the Homeland Security Department warned Americans to be vigilant about the possibility of a terror attack. The advisory sent to local law enforcement did not cite a specific threat.

Members of Congress welcomed the news of Saddam's death.

"Iraq has closed one of the darkest chapters in its history and rid the world of a tyrant," said Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Republican leader-elect of the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Saddam finally had met justice.

"The free people of Iraq must now go forward together to build a unified nation, and leave behind sectarian divisions."
breakingnews

Oprah to open girls' school in South Africa


US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is due to open her long-awaited school tomorrow, fulfilling a promise she made to former president Nelson Mandela six years ago and giving more than 150 poor South African girls a chance for a better future.

Mandela was invited to be among the dignitaries at the opening of the lavish Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in the small town of Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg, as well as a string of international celebrities, though the guest list was kept secret.

Oprah said she decided to build her own school because she was tired of charity from a distance.

“When I first started making a lot of money, I really became frustrated with the fact that all I did was write cheque after cheque to this or that charity without really feeling like it was a part of me,” she said in an interview with Newsweek magazine.

“At a certain point, you want to feel that connection.”

The $40m (€30.3m) academy aims to give 152 girls from deprived backgrounds a quality education in a country in which schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

Heightening concerns about declining standards in South Africa’s schooling system, the education department said last week that the school-leaving matriculation exam pass rate had dropped for the third straight year.

This year’s matriculation class, which started school the same year as multiracial elections in 1994, was dubbed ”Madiba’s Children” after the clan name for Mandela, who came to power with the onset of democracy.

Yet two thirds of the 1,667,000 children who started school 12 years ago dropped out, and only 5% of the total intake are eligible to go to university.

“We know that we still have much to do to guarantee proper education for our children, as well as provide the necessary training for those who need the skills that our society end economy demand,” President Thabo Mbeki said in a new-year message.

Many state-funded schools, especially in the sprawling townships that sprang up under white rule, are hopelessly overcrowded and lack even basic facilities like books. They are also plagued by gang violence, drugs and a high rate of pregnancy among schoolgirls.

Top-class study and sporting facilities are available, but are largely confined to private schools, which are still dominated by the white minority as they are too expensive for many black and mixed-race South Africans.

Winfrey’s academy offers a way out for the 152 girls, aged 11 and 12, who were selected from 3,500 applications across the country.

To qualify, they had to show both academic and leadership potential and have a household income of no more than 5,000 rand (€540.90) a month. Eventually the academy will accommodate 450 girls.

Many were interviewed by the celebrity, who was reported to have been moved by visits to some of the girls’ homes, a reminder of her own poor beginnings.

Winfrey, who reportedly threw a lavish New Year’s Eve party at the country’s famed Sun City resort before the opening of her academy, launched the project with Mandela in 2000.

Built on 52 acres, the 28-building campus, which was originally to cost $10m (€7.6m), is said to resemble more a luxury hotel than the rundown schools most of the girls know. It boasts state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science laboratories, a library, a theatre and a wellness centre.

“These girls deserve to be surrounded by beauty, and beauty does inspire,” Winfrey told Newsweek.

“I wanted this to be a place of honour for them because these girls have never been treated with kindness. They’ve never been told they are pretty or have wonderful dimples. I wanted to hear those things as a child.” breakingnews

'Their story is my story' Oprah opens $40m school for South African girls guardian

Civilians reported dead in US strikes on Somalia


Helicopter gunships attacked suspected al-Qaida fighters in southern Somalia a today – a day after US forces launched airstrikes in the eastern African nation.

A Somali politician said 31 civilians, including two newlyweds, died in today’s assault, which was the first offensive in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed there in 1993.

The attack was launched by two helicopters near Afmadow, a town in an area of forested hills close to the Kenyan border 220 miles south-west of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

A US intelligence official later said the United States killed five to 10 individuals in the attack.

Italy today criticised the attacks on Somalia, expressing concern that “one-sided” action could worsen tensions in the region and carry a high cost of innocent lives.

“Regarding the US military operations in Somalia, deputy premier and foreign minister Massimo D’Alema has reiterated Italy’s opposition to unilateral initiatives which could set off new tensions in an area already marked by high instability,” the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Such operations also carry a high cost in terms of innocent victims among the civilian population,” the ministry statement said.

Italy, a former colonial ruler of Somalia, urged international institutions, including regional ones, to multiply their efforts “to favour a pacification process both internal and among bordering nations,” the ministry said. D’Alema called for dialogue among the various components of Somali society “to permit the isolation of violent factions and to effectively counter every risk of the development of formations tied to international terrorism.”

A Somali defence ministry official described the helicopters as American, but the local witnesses told The Associated Press they could not make out identification markings on the craft. Washington officials had no comment on the helicopter strike.

The US is targeting Islamic extremists, said the Somali defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. Earlier, Somalia’s president said the Us was hunting suspects in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa, and had his support.

His troops and their Ethiopian backers were attacked in the capital tonight by gunmen riding in two pick up trucks firing two rocket propelled grenades, witnesses said. That attack was followed by several minutes of rifle fire. It was not immediately clear if anyone had been injured.

Somali Islamic extremists are accused of sheltering suspects in the embassy bombings, and American officials also want to make sure the militants will no longer pose a threat to Somalia’s UN-backed transitional government.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Slana said he told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday that a UN peacekeeping force may be needed to guarantee security and stability in Somalia. He said Ugandan soldiers may be the first deployed to replace Ethiopian troops.

European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said today that the US airstrikes would not contribute to bringing about long-term peace.
breakingnews

Found After Four Years Sky

Official Attacks Top Law Firms Over Detainees NYT

Bush's approval rating hits new low Yahoo