- AMMAN (Reuters) - Captured
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer on Thursday accused the Iraqi
Special Tribunal and United States of deliberately keeping his team in
the dark by ignoring repeated requests for legal documents.
-
- Ziad Al-Khasawneh also told Reuters in an interview that
he was unaware until the last minute that Saddam was to be questioned by
a war crimes judge about killings of Shi'i villagers.
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- Al-Khasawneh, the Jordanian lawyer who heads the Amman-based
Committee for the Defense of the captured Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
made his comments three days after Saddam appeared on camera being questioned
by a judge about the killing of villagers in 1982.
-
- In the film, aired on Monday, Saddam answered questions
over his role in the killings in Dujail, a crime that pales compared with
some accusations against him but a case Iraq sees as a test case for a
swift trial.
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- In the tape several of Saddam's lieutenants are seen
talking to the judge about separate cases.
-
- "My colleague Khalil (al-Dulaimi) had an appointment
to meet the leaders (Saddam and his lieutenants) but was surprised because
there was an investigation (about Dujail) taking place," he told Reuters
in Amman.
-
- "We do not acknowledge any of the procedures taken
by this court. Thus far the court has not allowed us to get any legal documents
from the President and his associates," he said.
-
- Iraq's government, facing a stiff resistance, has said
it wants to try Saddam within months.
-
- The U.S. and other governments say they want a fair trial,
and tribunal officials have insisted they would not be rushed.
-
- "LAWYERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD"
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- Al-Khasawneh said Iraq's government had already decided
to condemn the former leader before a trial.
-
- "If the trial goes on it will be comical because
the results are already known."
-
- The Dujail killings were apparent revenge executions
of dozens of men -- by some accounts over 140 -- after an attempt on Saddam's
life.
-
- Al-Khasawneh said Saddam has told his lawyers he is innocent
of all the crimes, but Al-Khasawneh added: "It is only normal that
any president in the world who comes under an assassination attempt ...
punishes those involved."
-
- The committee says it is supported by Saddam's family
and "2,500 lawyers from around the world" are volunteers, including
U.S. civil rights lawyer Ramsey Clarke and a daughter of Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi.
-
- Since there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
-- Washington's main justification to invade the oil-rich Arab state --
Al-Khasawneh said Saddam was still the President of Iraq, meaning immune
from prosecution.
-
- "The legitimate President of Iraq is Saddam Hussein."
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