Saddam makes plea to Iraqis

2004-12-20 09:01

Jordan - From his prison cell, ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urged his compatriots to remain united against the US occupation and warned of the potential dangers of the upcoming elections, his lawyers said.

Iraqi lawyer Khalil al-Duleimi met for more than four hours with Saddam on Thursday, the first meeting Saddam had with legal counsel since he was captured a year ago.

"Our representative in Iraq told us that the president warned the people of Iraq and the Arabs to beware of the American scheme aimed at splitting Iraq into sectarian and religious divisions and weakening the (Arab) nation," said Bushra Khalil, a Lebanese member of the defence team.

"The president sent recommendations to the Iraqi people to remain united and not fall in the trap of America's slogans," she said on Sunday. "He said Kurds, Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis and Christians are all Iraqis who all have to stand united against the American plot."

Morale was high

Al-Duleimi said the deposed leader was in good health and his morale was high, according to Ziad al-Khasawneh, who heads Saddam's legal team.

Al-Duleimi came to Jordan on Sunday to brief the legal team on "the very fruitful four-hour meeting with President Saddam", said Al-Khasawneh.

Saddam is kept in a three-by-five-metre cell "which lacks any information medium or connection with the outside world", Al-Khasawneh told reporters.

Al-Duleimi told the lawyers that Saddam did not see anyone except his guards and the ICRC representatives who have visited him four times since his capture.

Al-Duleimi told the lawyers he was taken to the meeting with Saddam in an armoured vehicle with darkened windows and did not know where in Baghdad Saddam was being held.

Urged caution

Al-Duleimi did not appear in the press conference attended by nine of the 20 lead lawyers as he had returned to Baghdad earlier on Sunday.

He told the other lawyers that Saddam had no news of Iraq or the outside world before the meeting. When Al-Duleimi informed Saddam of Iraq's upcoming elections, he urged caution.

"President Saddam recommended to the Iraqi people to be careful of this election, which will lead to dividing the Iraqi people and their land," said Al-Khasawneh.

Before meeting Saddam, Al-Duleimi was asked by US detaining authorities "not to shake hands and not to have any physical contact with the president, but he refused and he saluted him as the President of Iraq, which pleased him", said Issam al-Ghazzawi, another team member.

Saddam's first words included a popular Iraqi saying: "If you are not a head, don't be anything else because that would make you a tail," underlining that he intends to remain Iraq's leader.

He also recited a verse from the Q'uran: "Don't be weak, don't grieve, for you are the best," Al-Khasawneh said.

- AP