Facing death, Saddam looks to martyrdom

Baghdad: Saddam Hussain, due to be hanged within 30 days, said in a letter made public yesterday that his execution would be a sacrifice for his country and called on Iraqis to unite and fight US forces.

"Here I offer myself in sacrifice. If God almighty wishes, it [my soul] will take me where He orders to be with the martyrs," Saddam said in the hand-written letter written shortly after being sentenced to death, obtained from his defence lawyers.

"If my soul goes down this path [of martyrdom] it will face God in serenity," he wrote.