US embassy cable - 05LILONGWE345

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000345 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR, KDEM, KPAO, MI, Media 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - IRAQ, LILONGWE 
 
1. "Talabani and the Greatness of the Kurdish 
   Soul" 
 
2.  The independent daily, "The Daily Times" of 
April 20, 2005, carried an opinion piece by one 
of Malawi's prominent writers, Jika Nkolokosa, 
in his regular column "Take it or Leave it". 
Nkolokosa writes that world leaders achieve 
greatness by not seeking revenge against people 
and government systems that oppressed them. 
Excerpts follow. 
 
3.  One man who has caught my fancy is Jalal 
Talabani, the Iraqi president who has said he 
will not sign a death warrant for Saddam Hussein 
should the courts sentence him to death. 
Talabani is a Kurd, the tribe that Saddam 
Hussein loved to persecute at the pinnacle of 
his dictatorship.  Lesser men would revel in the 
opportunity to consign the detestable Butcher of 
Baghdad to death. 
 
But Talabani harbors the conviction that capital 
punishment is wrong and will not wish it even 
for his bitterest enemy.  This is not to say he 
believes that the courts should exonerate 
Saddam, but that his life, as miserable as it 
is, should be spared.  He is also well aware 
that he will not win the battle to spare Saddam, 
as his two co-presidents will most likely 
outvote him on the issue.  What counts here is 
that he has turned a personal conviction into a 
principle he is not willing to compromise. 
 
.Having said that, I must hasten to add that It 
would be a very unfair world if everyone chose 
to forgive every petty crook in the hope of 
achieving a noble personality.  The world is 
full of petty crooks who must be brought to 
book. 
 
.on the other hand I do not condone what my West 
African brothers gained notoriety for, cold- 
blooded murder of their equally murderous 
leaders. 
 
Take it or leave it, it is almost an act of 
sainthood to ignore one's own suffering and 
ensure the comfort of those who would not 
hesitate to cut one's throat.