- CAIRO (IslamOnline.net) --
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsy Clarke expressed readiness Sunday, December
14, to act as defense lawyer for ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein,
with western analysts suspecting the captured leader would be given fair
trial.
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- "Certainly, why not. I am ready to act in his defense,"
Clarke told IslamOnline.net shortly after the U.S. confirmed the detention
of Saddam near Tikrit.
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- Clarke, currently in Cairo to attend a two-day international
anti-occupation conference, stressed that Saddam ö however brutal
ö should be give a "fair, objective and impartial trial".
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- "Saddam must be domestically prosecuted first and
- if this fails - he should be referred to an international court,"
said the former American official, known for his staunch opposition to
the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.
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- He doubted, however, that the ousted Iraqi president
would be given such a fair trial.
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- Clarke averred that neither the U.S.-installed Interim
Governing Council (IGC) nor the occupation forces is eligible to try the
overthrown president.
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- "The IGC does not represent Iraq. It is Bush's council,"
said the former U.S. attorney general.
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- He noted that the Iraqi body was quick to say that DNA
test proved the captured man was Saddam.
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- "Do you think that they can take the test themselves.
They are puppets," Clarke maintained.
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- For the occupation forces to take over the trial, he
dismissed this as a would-be ridiculous proposal.
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- "Occupation of Iraq is in itself an international
crime" and runs counter to common decency and moral integrity.
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- Asked if Saddam could be taken to the International Criminal
Court, the former U.S. attorney general whimsically ruled out the suggestion,
noting Washington does not even recognize the court.
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- U.N. Intervention
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- But former British lawmaker Tony Benn said that since
Bush ordered a mission to assassinate Saddam, the chances for him to have
a just trial would be "minimum".
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- Benn, also a broadcaster, had made a televised interview
with Saddam days before the U.S.-led invasion, where the former Iraqi leader
denied possessing weapons of mass destruction or having links to Al-Qaeda
as propagated by Washington.
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- "He is a brutal dictator, never make any mistake
about that, but we are against war and occupation" of the oil-rich
country, Benn told IOL.
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- However, Saddam "must be treated respectfully, and
assumed innocent until proven guilty," he stressed.
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- On his part, former U.N. envoy to Iraq Denis Halliday
appealed to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to take action to secure
"a proper" tribunal to try Saddam.
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- "I hope that Annan would stand up and express human
rights" of Saddam regardless of his earlier crimes against his people,
he said.
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- But there is no conditions for this with the continued
state of occupation, said Halliday, who resigned a few years ago charging
that the U.N. weapons program had much harmed Iraqi people than their leaders.
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- "No Excuses Now"
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- For prominent British legislator George Galloway, the
Iraqi resistance could pick up after the news, as the people of the occupied
country have nothing to fear except a long-term foreign occupation.
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- "I think the Iraqi resistance could be much stronger,
for two reasons," Galloway said.
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- Saddamâs supporters would be inflamed by humiliation
he suffered at the hands of the U.S. occupation forces during after the
detention, he elaborated.
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- For his opponents in the country, they no longer fear
his return to power - a possibility that deterred many Iraqis from joining
resistance operations - and would now join hands to liberate their country,
added the British lawmaker.
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- The U.S. soldiers also have no excuse not to back up
and leave the country after Saddamâs capture, Galloway said.
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- "We have much bigger enemies now," the staunch
<http://www.islamonline.net/English/Views/2002/12/article10.shtml>anti-war
campaigner noted.
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- He stressed that Arab leaders should watch their steps
"as they are all, without exception, corrupt kings and puppet leaders".
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- They are fears, however, that Saddamâs capture
might distract attention from international mobilization to end the U.S.-led
occupation of Iraq.
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- "We must not be distracted by the propaganda that
would be built on this," said British Muslim activist Salma Yaqoub.
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- http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-12/15/article02.shtml
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