The executions of three former officials in Saddam Hussein’s regime can be carried out without presidential decrees because of the scale of their crimes, a judge said Monday. The statement by Munir Hadad, a judge and spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal, appeared to pave the way for the hanging in the next few weeks of the three men despite objections by President Jalal Talabani and the Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi. Full Story