Saddam Nominated Candidate for Iraq's Next President

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 16, 2002

Saddam Nominated Candidate for Iraq's Next President

Incumbent Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was nominated Thursday as the candidate for another presidential term by the decision-making Revolutionary Command Council, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

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Incumbent Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was nominated Thursday as the candidate for another presidential term by the decision-making Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

The decision was made unanimously in a plenary session of the council, chaired by Saddam, whose current seven-year presidential term expires this October, INA said.

The RCC also issued a "republic decree" asking the Iraqi National Assembly (parliament) to hold an extraordinary session for the RCC's decision.

Iraq has announced that a referendum on the post of Iraqi president would be held on Oct. 15, the day when the current presidential term expires, INA said.

The decision was a blow to the widely spread rumors that Saddam would step down after the current mandate in a bid to avert a US-led war aimed to oust him.

US President George W. Bush has branded Saddam's regime as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and accused them of pursuing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

He has repeatedly vowed to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq with all the tools at his disposal, including military actions.

The procedures for this year's referendum had been discussed in a meeting of the RCC on May 8, the official Iraq Daily said in its May 9 edition.

In the coming referendum, "Iraqi people will express their free will and genuine national and patriotic aspirations" as the previous one, which took place on Oct. 15, 1995, the report said.

In the 1995 referendum, Saddam secured a 99.96 percent vote and his presidential term was thus renewed for another seven years.

Saddam's presidency began in 1979 and he has since ruled the oil-rich country. In addition, Saddam has held an array of important posts, including prime minister, secretary general of the ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party and the commander in chief of Iraqi armed forces.

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