Saddam Lawyers Appeal Death Sentence

Saddam Hussein's lawyers on Sunday appealed the death sentence handed down to the ousted Iraqi president, a court spokesman said.

Five Iraqi judges on Nov. 5 sentenced Saddam and two other senior members of his regime to death by hanging for the killing of 148 people in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

Under Iraqi law, death sentences are automatically appealed before a higher court within 10 days of their passage. But defense lawyers must file a formal appeal within 30 days, detailing the legal grounds for their action and presenting new evidence that could support their clients' claims of innocence.

"Today, defense lawyers came to the court and filed an appeal against the death sentence passed against Saddam Hussein and other sentences in the Dujail case," Raid Juhi, the spokesman of the Iraqi High Tribunal, told The Associated Press.