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Saddam trial could start in month or two -Jaafari

Posted on: Thursday, 30 June 2005, 13:44 CDT

By Mahmoud Harbi

KUWAIT (Reuters) - The trial of Iraq's former presidentSaddam Hussein could start within a couple of months, PrimeMinister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said late on Wednesday.

"We cannot pinpoint a specific date, maybe a month or two,"Jaafari told reporters at a late-night reception in Kuwait.

"Maybe Aug. 15 or Sept. 15. But we have succeeded in makingthe deadline not to exceed three months, instead of beingopen-ended," he added.

August would be an earlier trial date than those Tribunalsources have said are likely -- in principle the rulesstipulate a 45-day delay between a judge referring a case fortrial and the start of courtroom proceedings. The referral canonly be made on completion of the investigative stage of theprocess.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said last week theSpecial Tribunal questioning former regime loyalists about warcrimes could begin the trial of Saddam by the end of 2005.

Saddam and 11 of his top lieutenants, who lost power aftera U.S.-led invasion in 2003, are being held at a detentionfacility on the outskirts of Baghdad.

They are all expected to be charged with genocide, warcrimes and crimes against humanity committed during threedecades in power.

President Jalal Talabani and other senior Iraqi officialshave already in recent weeks expressed their hope that Saddamwill come to trial within the next couple of months, but theTribunal has been adamant in saying justice must not be rushed.

VIDEOS RELEASED

At the same time, over the past month the Tribunal hasquestioned at least 20 suspects and released video of severalof them, including Saddam, being questioned, clearly keen toshow it is pushing ahead with the judicial process.

Some senior officials, including powerful Shi'ite leaderAbdelaziz al-Hakim, have complained of "foreign interference"holding up the trial -- apparently a reference to U.S.involvement behind the scenes.

Legal sources involved in the process have said Washingtonwould prefer to wait to prepare a major war crimes trial,similar to those in The Hague, which might, among other things,bolster the administration's case for invading Iraq.

The Iraqi government, however, says it is looking at waysto bring the former president to trial quickly, there is anelection in December, and may try him for a lesser crime, suchas the killings of dozens of Shi'ite villagers at Dujail in1982.

Though limited in scope, officials say, such a case mightmore easily produce clear evidence of Saddam's responsibilityand open the way for him to be swiftly executed.

Saddam and several aides have already been questioned onthe Dujail case -- dozens of 140 villagers were killed after afailed assassination attempt on Saddam as his motorcade passed.

Sources close to the Tribunal said recently that theinvestigative stage of the Dujail case could be completed bymid-August or so, at which point evidence would be presented toa trial judge, who would decide whether the case goes ahead.

In theory, if Saddam ended up being charged in the Dujailcase, they said, he could be tried before the end of the year.

(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Baghdad)

Source: REUTERS

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