Saddam lawyers 'may quit'
2005-06-10 20:59
Amman - The chief lawyer for Saddam Hussein issued an impassioned appeal on Friday to the world's law bodies for help to pressure the Iraqi tribunal to supply the Amman-based legal panel with any documents needed to defend the former Iraqi leader.
Ziyad Khasawneh also warned that if the Iraqi tribunal continued to keep his team in the dark, the panel could be obliged to "quit" the assignment.
Khasawneh said: "So far, the special Iraqi court has insisted on keeping us in complete blackout by failing to provide us with any document regarding the charges levelled against the president or the outcome of investigations conducted with him."
Preliminary rules of litigation
He said: "The Iraqi lawyer who represents the president's defence panel in Iraq, Kahlil Duleimi, also failed to get any papers from the tribunal.
"This runs counter to the preliminary rules of litigation. It is not a trial. It is a farce."
Khasawneh appealed to the world's law bodies as well as to the international public opinion "to say their word on what is taking place".
He said: "They should come to our help, otherwise we could be forced to quit the job if we don't have any other choice."
Khasawneh led about 30 Arab and non-Arab prominent legal specialists who volunteered to defend the former Iraqi president.
Lawyers meet Saddam twice
The panel included renowned lawyers such as former French foreign minister, Roland Dumas, former US attorney general Ramsey Clark and Aisheh, daughter of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
In compliance with the Iraqi bar association rules, Saddam's defence team appointed Duleimi to represent it in Iraq. The Iraqi lawyer succeeded in meeting Saddam at least twice for the past few months - the last time on April 27.
Khasawneh said: "President Saddam told Duleimi that he had complete confidence in the Amman-based in defence panel, but the problem is that the so-called special Iraqi tribunal refuses to provide us with any document. How then can we proceed with our job?"
Saddam, whose regime was knocked out by a United States-led multi-national force in April 2003, was captured by an American force in December the same year at a hideout near his hometown, Tikrit.
First time Saddam appears in public
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that they managed to visit the former Iraqi leader several times under his US custody inside Iraq.
Saddam appeared in public for the first time before the Iraqi tribunal on 1 July 2004, but refused to respond to the charges list, saying he would not speak "without the presence of my lawyers".
A series of declarations was made in Iraq for the past few weeks about an imminent resumption of Saddam's trial.
Leith Kubba of government said earlier this week that, the Iraqi court would bring only 12 charges of crimes against humanity against Saddam Hussein, although there were more than 500 possible cases against the ousted Iraqi leader.
- SAPA