Wednesday, November 8, 2006
There but for the grace of Allah go I?
Mahathir slams Saddam sentence
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad lashed out Tuesday against Saddam Hussein's death sentence, claiming the court was set up by his enemies in a "Nuremberg-type" fashion, incapable of a fair trial.
"It was a Nuremberg-type court, manifestly biased and incapable of being just," Mahathir said in a statement, referring to the tribunals for members of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime over the killings of six million Jews during World War II.
Mahathir, who was predominantly Muslim Malaysia's prime minister for 22 years until retirement in October 2003, is well known for his blunt and critical comments about Jews and the West. He is also a vocal critic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
While in office, Mahathir projected himself as a spokesman of the Muslim and developing world, winning widespread admiration among the people and leaders of poor countries. After retirement he set up an international committee to defend Saddam...
Mahathir Mohamad, critic of Jews. It does have something of a ring.
My memory isn't quite what it used to be, but wasn't Mahatir Mohammed himself the head of a government that arrested and jailed its vice president on trumped up claims of the veep being a sodomist?
Clearly, he's an expert on "Nuremburg" trials.