Saddam 'may be assassinated'
2005-05-02 22:32
Amman, Jordan - Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer on Monday accused unnamed Iranian-backed Iraqi politicians of plotting to assassinate the ousted dictator in his prison cell and held the United States responsible for his safety.
Ziad al-Khasawneh said he based his information on a message allegedly sent by a former Iraqi government official he identified as Hazem al-Obeidi addressed to Saddam's Jordan-based legal team and posted on a pro-Saddam website.
"We have received information that certain political parties in Iraq supported by Iran are plotting to assassinate President Saddam Hussein," al-Khasawneh told The Associated Press.
It was not immediately possible to verify the warning's authenticity or identity of its sender.
But Iraqi national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie scoffed at the accusations, describing them as a ploy to have Saddam moved to another country to face an international court.
"They want to make it as an excuse to transfer Saddam Hussein outside the country for him to face an international tribunal instead of an Iraqi one," he told the AP in Baghdad.
Saddam, who was captured in December 2003, is facing charges including killing rival politicians during his 30-year rule, gassing Kurds, invading Kuwait in 1990 and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in 1991.
He was arraigned in an Iraqi court in July without defence counsel and will be tried before a special Iraqi tribunal, which has not released any dates for the trials to start.
Al-Khasawneh said the internet warning suggested Iraqi politicians had dispatched a man to Iran to train to assassinate Saddam.
"The scenario is to have the man become the personal guard of the president in jail, where he would assassinate him," he said.
The lawyer said the United States must safeguard Saddam and transfer him "to a safe place under the supervision of the United Nations".
Saddam's legal team includes 1 500 volunteers and at least 22 lead lawyers who come from several countries, including the United States, France, Jordan and Libya.
Most of the volunteer lawyers are from Arab countries.
- AP