- ATHENS -- Deposed Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein could be offered a deal in which he would give his captors
information on if and how he hid weapons of mass destruction and if he
smuggled some of them into Syria. In exchange, he would face life imprisonment
and not be executed for war crimes, senior Iraqis attending a conference
here on the future of the region have hinted.
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- Saddam was captured, alive and well, on Saturday near
his hometown of Tikrit. U.S. troops found him hiding in a subterranean
hole. He did not resist.
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- The Iraqi figures also said that, even if the number
of concealed weapons of mass destruction is not large, Saddam will certainly
know who he appointed to take charge of the operation and in what area
the weapons are being stored.
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- The possibility that Saddam transferred some of the weapons
to Syria was raised on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, when satellite
pictures showed convoys moving from Iraq to Syria. It is still unknown
precisely what was transported in these convoys, but it is clear that this
was a secret operation between Iraq and Syria.
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- It was a unique experience to hear the news of Saddam's
capture while in the company of Iraqis, Kurds, Iranians and other Arabs.
One of the Kurdish representatives burst into the conference room in tears
and demanded an immediate halt to the discussions.
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- "Saddam Hussein has been captured," he said,
adding they had received word from Kurdistan, before the television reports.
The delegate also claimed that most of the information leading to the deposed
dictator's arrest had come from the Kurds, who had organized their own
intelligence network and for months had been trying to uncover Saddam's
tracks.
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- He further claimed that some six months ago, the Kurds
had discovered that Saddam's wife was in the Tikrit area. This intelligence
was transferred to the Americans, but the Kurds never received any news
on what the coalition forces did with the information and were angered
by this.
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- If it does emerge that most of the information that led
to Saddam's arrest did indeed come from Kurdish sources, this will probably
boost their status with Washington.
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- The capture of Saddam Hussein is the greatest success
for the Americans since taking over Iraq. It does not, however, let the
Americans off the hook on the question of how long their rule of occupation
will remain in Iraq and how power will be transferred to the new Iraqi
leaders without shocking the system. Will they wait until a new constitution
is drawn up for Iraq and elections are held?
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- Iraqi delegates say the capture of Saddam will not mean
an automatic, immediate end to guerrilla warfare and terror attacks against
the coalition forces. The forces opposed to the Americans are mostly made
up of former members of the Ba'ath movement, of Saddam's security and intelligence
forces and volunteers from Arab states and have merely lost their "symbol"
with Saddam's capture. In fact, these elements have been released from
the heavy burden of a man identified with bloodshed and mass murder.
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- Saddam's capture enables the Americans to now define
in a more coherent manner what their strategic goals are in Iraq, thus
reducing their time there.
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- Iraqi representatives are divided over Saddam's expected
trial. Some claim that since most of his crimes, including the use of chemical
weapons on the Iraqi Kurdish population, were commited on Iraqi soil, he
should be tried in Iraq. Others claim this is not desirable and there should
be an international aspect to his trial. An Iraqi trial would make the
internal reconciliation more difficult and could be seen as an American
Iraqi-purifying trial. A special international war crimes trial, however,
would have greater global resonance and would act as a deterrent against
commiting war crimes in the future.
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