Iraqi court gives death sentences to 62 Iraqis

A court in Anbar province gave death penalties to 62 Iraqis and different prison terms, including life imprisonment, to 130 others, a source from Anbar police command said on Tuesday.

The court in the province delivered the verdicts according to article 4 of the Iraqi counter-terrorism law after the court found them guilty for crimes of killings, bombings, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Some senior leaders of the al-Qaida organization and leaders of other insurgent groups were among those who received death sentences, the source said.

Many of the 130 convicts were either fighters of al-Qaida group or involved in assisting the group to carry out deadly attacks, the source added.

"All the convicts were residents of Anbar province," he said.

The Sunni-dominant province in western Iraq had been a major stronghold for al-Qaida militants in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Situation began to turn in favor of the U.S. military and Iraqi government after the anti-U.S. Sunnis shifted side and turned their guns against al-Qaida group in 2006 because they opposed to the indiscriminate terror attacks on civilians.

The death penalty in Iraq was suspended for over a year following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Paul Bremer, then U.S. Administrator for Iraq, suspended its use on June 10, 2003.

However, the Iraqi government reinstated the capital punishment on August 8, 2004, saying it would curb the widespread violence in the country. Since then, scores of people have been executed, including the toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Source: Xinhua