Saddam could face 500 charges
2005-06-05 12:26
Baghdad - Saddam Hussein could face up to 500 charges, but he will be tried on only 12 "thoroughly documented" counts because prosecuting him on all would be a "waste of time", the prime minister's spokesperson said on Sunday.
Laith Kuba also said Saddam was likely to be tried within the next two months on a range of charges, including alleged crimes committed in Iraqi Kurdistan.
"There should be no objection that a trial should take place within that time frame," Kuba said during a press conference. "It is the government's view that the trial of Saddam should take place as soon as possible."
No date has been set for the trial of Saddam, who is being held in a US-run detention facility in Baghdad since being captured in December 2003.
Kuba said investigating judges believe Saddam will be convicted on 12 "thoroughly documented" charges and could face up to 500 counts, but trying him on all would be a "waste of time".
"The number of charges on which he will be tried are 12 and the judges are confidant that he will be convicted of these charges," Kuba said.
Saddam has been accused of ordering the killing of tens of thousands of Shiites and Kurds who rose up against him in 1991 following the Gulf War that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
He was arraigned July 1 in Baghdad on broad charges including killing rival politicians over 30 years, gassing Kurds in the northern town of Halabja in 1988, invading Kuwait in 1990 and suppressing the Kurdish and Shiite uprising.
- AP