Clark to meet Saddam

2005-12-04 12:03

Amman - Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark said on Sunday he and other international lawyers will meet ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein later in the day to set out a defence strategy.

Clark left Amman for Baghdad early Sunday accompanied by Jordanian lawyer Issam Ghazawi and ex-Qatari Justice Minister Najib al-Nueimi. The three serve as advisers to Saddam's lead Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi.

Clark said the meeting with Saddam - the second in six days - was expected later Sunday, a day before the trial of the deposed leader and seven other co-defendants resumes.

"It will be our first real meeting where we'll have the chance to discuss the trial," Clark told AP Television News before he flew to Baghdad.

"He's being held in total isolation, not seeing any member of his family, any friend, anybody he knew before. When we first met him a week ago, Monday, it was very short. It was a social meeting, because he hadn't seen anybody for a long time; you don't feel like talking business.

So, hopefully we'll have the first opportunity to discuss the charges and the case and how the defence should proceed," he said, without elaborating.

In court Monday, Saddam's lawyers will reiterate their request for protection of Iraqi defense team members and their families following the recent killing of two of their colleagues, Clark said.

"There's nothing in place to protect them, which is really an outrage," he said. "It's dangerous for them every day, and it's more dangerous every day they appear in court. So we want that protection in place."

He said another issue that would be raised was the legitimacy of the court, which the defence lawyers consider illegal because it was formed and now operates under US occupation.

"The court has no authority or power to proceed until it establishes that it's legal," Clark said. "An illegal court has no right to arrest people, to hold people and to try people."

"These will be the two main issues we will work on in this hearing," he said.

- AP