Saddam trial to sizzle Iraq

2004-06-30 20:05

Baghdad - The trial of the 67-year-old Saddam stands to be the most sensational case in Iraqi history. Saddam's case is expected to bare the chasm between the Iraqis who benefited from his 24-year rule, and those whom it scarred.

"Everyone who lost loved ones to Saddam will want to see this," said Hamid al-Bayati, Iraq's new deputy foreign minister and a leader of the main Shiite Muslim party.

He noted that Saddam's victims are estimated in the hundreds of thousands or more, which means a huge segment of the 26 million Iraqis want to watch him answer for those crimes.

In places where resistance to the US occupation has been fierce - such as Tikrit, the city near his birthplace - residents were nonplussed by the forthcoming trial, charging that the new government was merely acting on behalf of the United States.

"Saddam Hussein was a national hero and better than the traitors in the new government," said one resident who was afraid to give his name.

"Saddam will get fair trial"

The trial could contribute to the upheaval in Iraq by polarising Saddam's supporters and detractors, said Walid Mohammed al-Shibibi, a Baghdad attorney and editor of a legal journal.

"This will escalate into terrorist attacks," he said.

Iraqi law has no restrictions on televising trials, but some could be imposed if the judge wishes, al-Shibibi and others said.

Iraqi officials insist Saddam and the others will get fair trials. Asked whether justice includes the possibility that Saddam might walk out a free man, perhaps on a legal technicality, al-Bayati said there was "no chance at all."

"The whole world will see this," said al-Bayati, who said he was tortured in Saddam's prisons in the 1970s. "He won't be able to walk free."

Allawi said his cabinet is discussing reinstating Iraq's death penalty, which was suspended by American occupation chief Paul Bremer.

A team of 20 foreign lawyers appointed by Saddam's wife Sajidah might not be permitted to represent him, al-Shibibi said.

The only foreign lawyers permitted to defend Iraqis without special permission are Palestinians and Syrians, he said. Others must seek approval from the Iraqi Bar Association, he said.

- AP