Iraq gets ready for Saddam trial
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-11 06:16

Al-Hayat said Saddam's family has also made a decision to appoint Iraqi legal consultant Abdel Haq al-Aali, who holds a British passport.

"The new arrangements will end the chaos of media statements made on behalf of Saddam Hussein inside and outside Iraq and reorganize the case back to its right legal course," al-Hayat quoted the sources as saying.

A member of the Amman-based defence committee, Issam al-Ghazzawi, said the family's decision may be linked to the number of public declarations by various lawyers about Saddam's case.

"Defence committee members do not have the mandate to plead Saddam's case in court, but will offer legal advice and support, nothing more," he added.

Formally charged in Dujail case

Meanwhile, Tariq Aziz, Iraq's former deputy prime minister, denied on Tuesday that he might testify against the former president.

In an effort to quash speculation that the man who was Saddam's envoy to the outside world might turn star witness for the prosecution, Aziz delivered a statement through his lawyer.

"I would like to make clear ... that I will not testify against anyone and, in particular, I will not testify against Saddam Hussein," attorney Badia Aref quoted Aziz saying in a note he passed the lawyer during a meeting earlier in the day.

So far, in one case, Saddam has been formally charged with the killing of dozens of Shi'ite Muslims from the village of Dujail in 1982. If he is found guilty, he faces the death penalty. An Iraqi judge said on Monday the trial was expected to begin in two months.

Dujail is seen as a relatively minor case among the many accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity levelled at the ousted president and his senior advisers.

But prosecutors hope it will be easier to secure a conviction in a smaller case.

But guilty verdict in the Dujail case would probably result in a death sentence. That would satisfy many Iraqis, but the risk is that many other crimes would not be subject to judicial process in open court.

Saddam is awaiting trial at a US-run high-security camp on the outskirts of Baghdad. He has appeared before Iraq's war crimes tribunal along with several aides, including Aziz.