Saddam 'did the right thing'

2006-05-24 11:58

Baghdad - Former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz took the witness stand on Wednesday to defend Saddam Hussein and his associates in a case involving the killing of Shi'ite civilians from Dujail in the 1980s.

While he was not involved with the events of Dujail itself, his testimony on behalf of Saddam focused on the series of assassination attempts against officials of the Baath regime at that time.

"The president is not guilty, nor are any of the officials in the government, just because they punished those who tried to assassinate the head of state," he told the court.

"The Dujail case is part of a chain of assassination operations against officials and I am one of the victims," he said.

Crimes against humanity

An assassination attempt against Saddam in Dujail in 1982 sparked a harsh crackdown and the killing of 148 people from the Shi'ite town.

In 1980, Aziz was attacked by militants who tossed grenades at him at Baghdad's Mustansiriyah University.

"The president of the state in any country, if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those who conduct and help this operation," he said.

"According to the law, people who support this assassination can also be convicted."

Aziz said he was testifying on the behalf not just Saddam, but also former head of intelligence Barzan al-Tikriti and former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan.

Saddam and his seven co-defendants face charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, and could face execution by hanging if found guilty.

The trial is currently in the defence phase, featuring testimony on the behalf of the accused, with last week involving witnesses for the little known Baathist officials from Dujail.

Lebanese lawyer Bushra Khalil had returned to the courtroom after a long absence following her expulsion in early April by Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman for disrupting the proceedings.

But an argument immediately erupted after the trial resumed, and the judge ordered her thrown out again. She was escorted from the courtroom screaming, and tossing her robes at the judge, drawing protests from Saddam and other lawyers.

The trial, which opened on October 19, has been marred by repeated tirades from Saddam and other defendants, the murder of two defense lawyers and the January resignation of the first chief judge.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi told AFP the defence testimony could take a few weeks, as nearly 60 witnesses are lined up to testify in the courtroom in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

Once defence testimony is complete, defence lawyers will give their closing statements, followed by defendants' final statements which will mark the end of the trial.

The proceedings could conclude by the end of June, a US official close to the court said last week, with a verdict coming as early as July.

International human rights advocates say the trial is being conducted well below international legal standards.

- AFP