Saddam handover 'illegal'
2004-06-28 20:21
Amman, Jordan - A Jordanian lawyer who claims to represent Saddam Hussein urged the US-led coalition in Iraq to release the ousted dictator, saying on Monday that handing him over to the newly empowered interim Iraqi government would violate international law.
"With the transfer of authority, the United States has no legal basis to keep prisoners of war, including Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in detention," said Ziad al-Khasawneh, one of 20 Jordanian and foreign lawyers appointed by Saddam's wife Sajidah.
"International law dictates that in such a situation, the occupation authority must release all prisoners of war - including Mr President Saddam - and let them choose to leave to any country they wish to go to and under the protection of the occupying power and the United Nations," al-Khasawneh said.
"The United States would violate international law if it handed the president (Saddam) or other prisoners of war over to the interim Iraqi government," he added.
In Baghdad, a coalition official said it had been agreed with the Iraqi government to transfer legal custody of Saddam in a week.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, made the remarks only hours after the US-led coalition handed over power to an Iraqi interim government in a low-key ceremony in Baghdad.
No further specifics on the exact timing were available.
The ousted Iraqi leader, however, will remain in the hands of US troops, because Iraq doesn't have a prison secure enough to hold him, a US official said last week.
The Iraqi Special Tribunal, established six months ago, is expected to try Saddam for atrocities committed during his 23 years as president, including the deaths of an estimated 300 000 people.
Al-Khasawneh said the defence team - which has enlisted another 1 500 lawyers from across the Arab world, Europe and the United States since Saddam's capture in December - sent letters to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, the US Embassy in Jordan and other diplomatic missions urging them to help free Saddam.
- AP