NICOSIA [MENL] -- The regime of President Saddam Hussein has launched a new
bloody purge in the military.
Opposition sources said scores of officers were ordered executed by
Saddam over the last six weeks. They said the officers were accused of
treason, but that most of them were thought to be grumbling over pay and
conditions.
In a statement on Thursday, the Iraqi Communist Party said 40 officers
were executed by Saddam's son after a speedy trial in Omara, 400 kilometers
south of Baghdad. The party said they were accused of being a clique that
served in southern Iraq.
The prosecution was led by Saddam's son, Ali Hassan Majid.
Several days ago, the first bodies of executed Iraqi army officers were
returned to their families. Opposition sources said the bodies of three
officers executed on Nov. 22 were returned to their families.
They included General Abd El-Karim El-Hamdani, who fought in the 1973
Arab-Israeli war. Another executed man was a member of the military office
of the ruling Baath party.
Iraqi authorities prevented the families of the executed men from
attending their funerals or setting up condolence tents according to Muslim
tradition. Opposition sources said authorities feared protests.
