Debate on Saddam's death sentence:

Iraq should not carry death penalty

A United Nations group of human rights experts on Tuesday called on Iraq's government not to carry out the death sentence passed on former leader Saddam Hussein, saying his trial had been flawed.

In a statement, the U.N. working group on arbitrary detention said that the tribunal had lacked independence and impartiality and had not given him sufficient time and means to prepare his defence.

"The working group also urges the Iraqi government to refrain from carrying out the sentence of death by hanging imposed in a proceeding, which does not meet applicable basic standards of a fair trial," it said.

Iraq's former dictator was condemned to death earlier this month for his role in the killings of 148 Shi'ite villagers after he escaped assassination in 1982.

The U.N. group, composed of five independent legal and human rights lawyers, is headed by Algerian Leila Zerrougui.

(Reuters)