WAR: Iraqi tribunal to try Saddam

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussien and several other members of the Baathist regime will face an Iraqi Tribunal, consisting of seven judges so far. NO date has been set for the trial as of yet, however Saddam will be represented by French Attorney, Jacques Verges who is known for representing notorious world figures and plans on calling top U.S. officials to testify about thier support of Saddam in the 1980's.

www.cnn.com...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi leaders have set up a tribunal to try ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and other members of his Baathist regime, a spokesman for the Iraqi Governing Council said Tuesday

Salem Chalabi, the nephew of the head the Iraqi National Congress, was named to head the tribunal of judges and prosecutors, according to council spokesman Entefadh Qanbar.

New political parties in Iraq include the Iraqi National Congress headed by Ahmed Chalabi; the Iraqi National Coalition headed by Adnan Pachachi; and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution headed by Ayatollah Muhammed Baqr Al Hakim.

Seven judges have been assigned to the tribunal so far, and more judges and prosecutors will be chosen, Qanbar said.

He added that the tribunal has a budget of $75 million for 2004-2005.

No date has been set for Saddam's trial.

French attorney Jacques Verges, who has long made a name for himself representing notorious world figures, has said he will lead a team of defense lawyers in any future trial. He said he plans to call top U.S. officials to testify about their support of Saddam during the 1980s.

Saddam was captured December 13 in a "spider hole" near his hometown of Tikrit and has remained in coalition custody in Iraq.

U.S. officials have described Saddam as being less than cooperative during his interrogations.

So he's going to trial, will be tried by an Iraqi tribunal. Saddam will be represented by a French Attorney, is that another slap in the face to the U.S. ?


[Edited on 4-21-2004 by Valhall]

bump -----


someone noticed my story and wondered why it wasn't an actual ATSNN article...


They wanted to repost it on the discussion board as a topic, I wanted to give an editor a chance to review it.

sorry for the bump,.... especially since I just ranted about it yesterday...

Other than the announcement of this and the further indepth details, it has been mentioned on a few threads that Saddam would be tried by Iraqis.

Good to see that they have finally confirmed this, while confirming what some of us members have been saying on this already, though 'anything' is subject to change.


seekerof

I really hope the US takes a very quiet backseat position in this. As far as the trial, the sooner the better.

Im glad to here this. I still ask the question, what happens if he gets off, or can he?

That's a good question, SpittinCobra.
If he's being tried by Iraqi's, I doubt his changes of getting off are very good, if it's even a possibility at all.

SpittinCobra,
I really don't think there's a snowball's chance that he'll get off. Notwithstanding what we hear in the 10 second evening news, Fox News, MSNBC or CNN sound bites, the overwhelming majority of Iraqi's would hang this bozo by his ba!!$ in a heartbeat - just as he deserves!

Yes, it's bad over there! But the fact is for millions of people it's far better than it was!

Who is it worse for? Terrorists, Senior Baath Party Members, recently freed (i.e. during the war) prisoners, and far, far left wing journalists looking for what was lost when the US involvement in Vietnam ended!