Qaeda chief named Saddam Hussein to hang in Iraq

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A local Al-Qaeda leader – named Saddam Hussein – was sentenced to hang by a court in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq on Tuesday, an official said.

 "The criminal court of Karbala sentenced Saddam Hussein, the Al-Qaeda leader of (the village of) Khanafsa to death by hanging," said Mohammed Hamid al-Moussawi, chairman of Karbala's provincial council.

   "Saddam Hussein was convicted of attacks on pilgrims with car bombs and bombs," he said. He was arrested in mid-April in Khanafsa, 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Karbala.

   Hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims visit Karbala several times a year, notably for mourning ceremonies during the Shiite holy day of Ashura. Attacks by pro-Wahhabi insurgents against the Shiite pilgrims are common.

 Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator toppled in the 2003 US-led invasion, was hanged in December 2006.

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