Saddam and 11 Aides Turned Over to Iraqi Justice
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By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) appeared before an Iraqi judge Wednesday as Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim government took legal charge of the deposed dictator 15 months after U.S.-led forces overthrew him.
"Today at 10:15 a.m. the Republic of Iraq assumed legal custody of Saddam Hussein," said a terse statement from interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office.
"Saddam said 'Good morning' and asked if he could ask some questions," said Salem Chalabi, a lawyer leading the work of a tribunal that will try the former president.
"He was told he should wait until tomorrow," Chalabi told Reuters after attending the court where Saddam and 11 of his former lieutenants were turned over to Iraqi justice.
Chalabi, who has received death threats since he began work on the tribunal, said the 67-year-old Saddam looked in good health and had sat in a chair during the closed proceedings.
Saddam's former aides appeared nervous or hostile and one of them, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali for his role in using chemical weapons, was shaking.
Saddam, accused by Iraqis of ordering the killing and torture of thousands of people during 35 years of Baathist rule, had been held as a prisoner of war since U.S. forces found him hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit in December.
A U.S. official said the United States formally transferred Saddam and the others to the charge of Iraq's new government but that U.S. forces would retain physical custody of them.
Iraq's president was quoted as saying the death penalty, suspended during the U.S.-led occupation, would be reinstated and the national security adviser said it could apply to Saddam.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
An official in Allawi's office had said earlier that Saddam and his former aides would be told at the initial court appearance that they would be charged Thursday.
"Tomorrow Saddam and 11 others will be officially charged," said the official. "The focus at this point will be on Saddam and tomorrow's proceedings will mark the start of his trial."
Saddam will be charged with crimes against humanity for a 1988 gas massacre of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, according to Chalabi.
French lawyer Emmanuel Ludot, one of a 20-strong team appointed by Saddam's wife to represent him, said the former president would refuse to acknowledge any court or any judge.
"It will be a court of vengeance, a settling of scores," Ludot told France Info radio, saying any judge sitting in the court would be under pressure to find Saddam guilty. Ludot said he expected Saddam to say last year's U.S.-led war was illegal.
Among others to be handed over were Former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz; Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and adviser; Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, his secretary; Sabawi Ibrahim, Saddam's maternal half-brother; Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and adviser; and Aziz Salih Numan, Baath Party regional commander and head of the party militia.
Those former officials and others among the 55 most wanted Iraqis on a U.S. list are seen as witnesses who could help prove a chain of command linking Saddam to crimes against humanity.
Government offices were shut Wednesday for a new national holiday declared to mark Monday's transfer of sovereignty.
MORTAR ATTACK
Allawi's new interim government wants to show Iraqis that the 14-month occupation is really over, despite the continued presence of 160,000 U.S.-led foreign troops, and to prove it can curb violence still blighting the country.
Insurgents fired six to 10 mortar rounds that landed north of Baghdad international airport Wednesday, wounding six soldiers of the U.S.-led force, a U.S. military spokesman said.
A bomb exploded in the southern town of Samawa, where Japanese and Dutch troops are deployed, but no one was badly hurt, witnesses said. The blast was not near the Japanese camp.
In Najaf, Iraqi police announced an overnight curfew after fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with a police patrol. Witnesses said shops were closed and Sadr's Mehdi Army fighters were on the streets of the holy city in force.
Allawi has said the government might impose emergency law in parts of the country, but has made no formal announcement.
Sadr launched a revolt against U.S. forces in Najaf in April but has since agreed to a truce that saw his militiamen leaving the streets and U.S. troops staying outside the holy city.
The Iraqi government has decided to reinstate the death penalty and offer an amnesty to Iraqis who do not have blood on their hands, President Ghazi al-Yawar was quoted as saying.
He told Asharq al-Awsat daily that Iraq would reinstate a 1960s national security law. He described it as "less severe than emergency laws," but said it contained "resolute measures against terrorist acts and breaches of the law."
Iraq's National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said Saddam would get a fair trial and could face the death penalty.
"The death penalty is going to be available to the court. We are now an independent sovereign country again and we need to reimpose the penalty," he told BBC radio. |
