Makati, Phils. - Prominent Iraqi nuclear scientist Dr. Hussain AlShahristani, who used to work with the Iraqi government, admitted in a press briefing in Makati City that religious leaders have been killed by the Iraqi military under Saddam’s rule.

"For 30 years, the Iraqi people are suffering under Saddam's rule. There are many atrocities with the use of chemical weapons. Religious leaders are being killed by the Iraqi military and there are also mass executions. Half a million Iraqis have been killed since 1990s," said Shahristani, who was imprisoned from 1979 to 1991 for refusal to use scientific knowledge to develop weapons of mass destruction in his country.

Mr. AlShahristani also confirmed that Iraq has indeed an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

"I ask Saddam to resign from his post. It will be a noble move for him to do that so there can be world peace," said Shahristani, former chief scientific advisor of Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission.

Shahristani was brutally tortured for 12 years in prison. In 1980 he was visited by Saddam's half brother, Barzan Tikriti who heads the Iraqi Secret Police, and convinced him to cooperate with Saddam to no avail.

The former Iraqi official, who escaped to the United Kingdom (UK) in 1991, also said the world has seen many dictators but no one can be worse than Saddam Hussein.

"The only way to stop Saddam is to remove him from office," said Shahristani, who is still confirming that a coup attempt was foiled in Iraq.

"I demand that the UN Security Council resolutions on the destruction of Iraq's biochemical weapons must be implemented to help the world become free of biochemical threats," he said.

He said that Hussein has to face the charges by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and international courts.

By Y.Hilado, ChToday Philippines
editor@christiantoday.com.ph