Kuwait: Death for Saddam
2004-07-01 17:27
Kuwait City - Saddam Hussein is a "war criminal" who must face the death penalty, Kuwait's information minister said on Thursday, referring to the ousted Iraqi president's August 1990 invasion of the emirate.
Saddam is a "war criminal who committed genocide against the Iraqi and Kuwaiti people", Mohammed Abulhassan said.
"We demand that he face the maximum punishment, which is death for his crimes" the minister added, in the first official reaction to Saddam's latest defence of his army's seven-month occupation of neighbouring Kuwait.
At a first court appearance on Thursday, Saddam was unrepentant as he declared, "Kuwait is an Iraqi territory. It was not an invasion."
Saddam also hurled an insult at the emirate.
"How could you defend those dogs who were going to turn Iraqi women into 10-dinar prostitutes?" he asked, only to be rebuked by the judge that "such language is not permitted" in a court of law.
Kuwait not interested in claims
"Saddam is a criminal in the full sense of the word. He killed (many of) his people. He is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity," Abulhassan said.
"The man who created mass graves ... is not expected to feel guilty or repent. He is a hardcore criminal," he added. "Kuwait is independent; before Saddam and after him."
The head of parliament's foreign relations committee said Kuwait was unperturbed by Saddam's territorial claims.
"His claims do not affect us at all. We are recognised by the United Nations, the Arab League and also by the new Iraqi government. Saddam's claims are for consumption purposes" Mohammed al-Saqer said.
"Saddam committed crimes against the Iraqi people before Kuwait. We will have a representative in court ... We trust the Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam," the lawmaker said.
Justice Minister Ahmed Baqer said on Monday that Kuwait has completed 200 major indictments against Saddam and his top aides for war crimes and appointed a representative to the Iraqi tribunal that would try the ex-president.
"We have already completed 200 indictment files against Saddam and his top aides for various crimes like murder, rape, theft, in addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity," Baqer said.
Kuwait charges Iraqi troops committed numerous war crimes during the seven-month occupation, including the killing of at least 1 000 civilians, detaining thousands of prisoners, perpetrating widescale torture and confiscating property.
Occupying Iraqi forces were driven out of tiny oil-rich Kuwait by a US-led multinational coalition in the 1991 Gulf War.