Iran Welcomes Saddam Trial

Iran welcomed the beginning Wednesday of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s trial, and demanded he be charged with waging war on Tehran and Kuwait.

The Iranian News Agency IRNA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Asafi as saying we welcome the start of the trial of Saddam Hussein, the man who committed crimes against humanity especially against the Iraqi, Iranian and Kuwaiti peoples during long years of dictatorial rule.

He said Iran hopes justice will be applied to heal the wounds and sufferings of the families of the victims of Saddam’s crime and to be a lesson for all arrogant people.

The trial of Saddam and seven of his closest aides began in Baghdad Wednesday amid tight security measures. The defendants are charged with a 1982 massacre in which in which 148 people were killed in the Sunni-Shiite town of Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.