By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Iraqi court has upheld the death sentence against Saddam Hussein's former deputy for his role in the killing of 148 Shiites in 1982, a judge said Thursday.
Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was Saddam's vice president when the regime was ousted by the US-led invasion in 2003, will be hanged, the method of execution in Iraq.
Judge Mounir Haddad said at a news conference that the appeals court decision was relayed to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which will set the date for the execution.
Haddad, a member of the court's nine-judge panel, said the decision to uphold the death sentence was unanimous.