30 days or less for Saddam.

Death sentence for Saddam upheld

Saddam Hussein must be executed within 30 days, Iraqi law says
An Iraqi appeals court has upheld the death sentence against ousted President Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s national security adviser has said.

“The appeals court approved the verdict to hang Saddam [Hussein],” Mouwafak al-Ruabaie said.

Lawyers launched an appeal after a court sentenced Saddam Hussein to death on 5 November for the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town Dujail.

Under Iraqi law, Saddam Hussein must be executed within 30 days.

The BBC’s Peter Greste in Baghdad says the execution is likely to provoke an angry response from Saddam Hussein’s supporters, so it is understood that it will be carried out at a private time and in a private place.

The former president is currently facing a separate trial in connection with a military campaign against Kurdish communities.

But Iraqi authorities have always said that they will carry out the sentence even if court proceedings are still under way, our correspondent says.