Michael Ware

Journalist

PZN: Whose democracy?


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Length: 2:13


PAULA ZAHN: And we are just hours until polls open in America. And only one day after former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang, two events that could mean major changes in Iraq.

Let's turn to Michael Ware, who joins us from Baghdad to give us a better understanding of what this all means.

Michael, we know that this verdict will automatically be appealed. When is the very earliest execution date that might be in the works?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a matter for great conjecture, Paula. I mean, there's some completely unconfirmed reports that the appellate chamber has said it may hand down its decision as early as mid-January. However, really nobody knows, not even the appellate court itself.

The thing to note here, however, is that under the Iraqi constitution and the pertaining law, there's no set timeframe for them to make their decision. Obviously the pressure is on to get it done as quickly as possible, but there's nothing to force them to hurry along -- Paula.

ZAHN: Michael, we know that some people in the country are ecstatic about the possibility he's going to be hanged, but you also have some of his loyalists that we have captured pictures of all day long chanting their allegiance to him. What impact may this have on the insurgency movement? Might it stoke it further?

WARE: Most likely not. I mean, by and large, 99 percent of the insurgency is out there fighting for many, many, many reasons, none of which have anything to do with Saddam Hussein. Though the military sometimes like to use the clumsy term "Saddamists," they actually don't exist in the insurgency. There's no one out there fighting Americans to bring back Saddam.

And whilst there is some lingering support for Saddam in certain pockets, what you see from the protests is not so much a rallying call for the dictator himself, but this is a representation of the Sunni community's feeling that they are by and large under assault.

ZAHN: Michael Ware, thanks so much for the update.