Saddam could expose CIA ways

2004-01-07 09:10

John Lumpkin

Washington - CIA interrogators taking on Saddam Hussein must contend with the likelihood that some of their questioning could become public during his eventual trial. That means making decisions now on how to conduct the questioning and record the conversations, US officials say.

On the one hand, any admissions Saddam might make of human rights violations or responsibility for massacres would be useful material for prosecutors in a trial.

But any such statement by Saddam also would probably have to meet some kind of standard for use in a court case, much like an affidavit in the US court system. That could mean officials might want the informal give-and-take of a typical interrogation to give way to a ritualised question-and-answer session.

That makes Saddam's interrogation different in fundamental ways from the questioning by US officials of suspected senior members of the al-Qaeda terrorist organisation. It is unclear whether those al-Qaeda members, captured and hustled off to secret overseas locations for interrogation, will ever see daylight again, even if they are afforded some kind of military or other trial.

Can't be seen to act brutally

But if Saddam's trial is to have any kind of legitimacy, he must be given a chance to speak and defend himself publicly, experts say.

"We can't we treat him the same way as we treat Khalid Shaikh Mohammed," said John Parry, an international law expert at the University of Pittsburgh, referring to a top al-Qaeda figure being questioned by US officials.

"Saddam was an evil man, but he was the head of state. It can't possibly be in our long-term interests to be seen acting brutally or indifferently toward his welfare."

When Saddam eventually addresses his judges, he may describe the methods used to interrogate him. He may embarrass the government with revelations about its friendly relationship with his regime in the 1980s.

"Anything we do with him will almost certainly become public," Parry said. "If you were his defence attorney, you would run to the press. It will be blaring on Al-Jazeera within moments."

CIA interrogators are pressing Saddam for details on the insurgency in Iraq, on possible weapons of mass destruction and on any ties between his government and terrorists, US officials say.

An interrogation is about control. The CIA now controls everything about Saddam's life: his food, his surroundings, his information. Interrogators can befriend him, lie to him, confuse him - all to get him talking.

US officials say they don't resort to torture. But there's a grey area of interrogation techniques designed to stress and disorient a person through physical discomfort - like preventing the person from sleeping. Some say that is torture.

At some point, the CIA interrogators will lose their control over Saddam. Presuming the former Iraqi leader gets some kind of attorney, that person can meet with Saddam and re-orient him by providing him with news from the outside world.

- AP