IRAQ: SADDAM; ONU E' CONTRO PENA MORTE, ANNAN

NEW YORK, 15 DIC' - '''Onu e' contro la pena di morte e non la accetta nei suoi tribunali''. Lo ha detto il segretario generale dell'Onu Kofi Annan a proposito che nei confronti del deposto rais iracheno Saddam Hussein sia chiesta la pena capitale.

Annan ha detto che Saddam Hussein si e' macchiato di ''crimini orribili e di gravi violazioni dei diritti umani'' ed e' dunque ''essenziale'' che quanti si sono resi responsabili di questi crimini ''siano portati davanti alla giustizia''.

Parlando al Palazzo di Vetro, Annan ha auspicato nei confronti di Saddam Hussein e degli altri gerarchi iracheni colpevoli di crimini contro i diritti umani ''processi aperti nelle corti adeguate'' e in cui ''siano rispettati gli standard fondamentali della legge umanitaria''.

Il capo dell'Onu ha anche auspicato che la cattura di Saddam Hussein contribuisca ad accelerare la ricostruzione e la transizione in Iraq.

Annan Rejects Death Penalty for Saddam

UNITED NATIONS - The top U.N. diplomat said Monday he could not support bringing captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein before a tribunal that might sentence him to death.

"The U.N. does not support death penalty. In all the courts we have set up (U.N. officials) have not included death penalty," Secretary-General Kofi Annan  said in a brief encounter with reporters at the United Nations.

"And so as secretary-general and the U.N. as an organization are not going to turn around and support a death penalty," Annan said.

Last week, Iraq 's Governing Council adopted a measure setting up a special war crimes tribunal.

Council members have said since Saddam's capture Saturday that he would be tried before the special tribunal and could face the death penalty.

Other courts dealing with war crimes that have been set up by the United Nations include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia formed in 1993. The tribunal, based in The Hague, Netherlands, has tried 43 people; former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is now on trial.

In Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a United Nations court based in Tanzania, is trying dozens of people for the 1994 genocide that killed 500,000 people. Local courts are trying other suspects in Rwanda.

The new International Criminal Court is the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. The United States opposes it, fearing that Americans will be singled out for frivolous cases. U.S. officials have signed deals with more than 30 countries to prevent Americans from being extradited to the court in The Hague.