Saddam trial to resume; Clark arrives (AP) Updated: 2005-11-28 06:44
Iraqi police arrested eight Sunni Arabs for allegedly plotting to kill the
judge who prepared the indictment of Saddam Hussein, authorities said Sunday,
the day before the ousted leader's trial for crimes against humanity resumes.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Baghdad to help the
defense but might not be allowed in court Monday when the first of up to 35
prosecution witnesses take the stand.
Saddam Hussein
listens to the Presiding Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin as his trial begins in
a heavily fortified courthouse in Baghdad's Green Zone, in this Oct. 19,
2005 file photo. [AP] |
Tight security surrounds the proceedings, which are restarting after a
five-week recess in a specially built courtroom in the heavily guarded Green
Zone. The precise starting time was not announced due to fear of attack by both
Saddam's supporters and opponents.
The eight alleged plotters from Iraq's Sunni Arab minority were apprehended
Saturday in the northern city of Kirkuk, police Col. Anwar Qadir said.
He said they were carrying written instructions from a former top Saddam
deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, ordering them to kill investigating judge Raed
Juhi, who prepared the case against Saddam and forwarded it to the trial court
in July.
Al-Douri is the highest ranking member of the Saddam regime still at large
and is believed to be at least the symbolic leader of Saddam loyalists fighting
U.S. forces and Iraq's new government.
"As an Iraqi citizen and a judge, I am vulnerable to assassination attempts,"
Juhi told The Associated Press. "If I thought about this danger, then I would
not be able to perform my job ... I will practice my profession in a way that
serves my country and satisfies my conscience."
Saddam and seven co-defendants are charged in the killing of more than 140
Shiite Muslims after an assassination attempt against the former president in
the Shiite town of Dujail in 1982. Convictions could bring a sentence of death
by hanging.
Insecurity from the predominantly Sunni insurgency has complicated efforts to
put Saddam on trial and forced draconian measures. For example, names of four of
the five trial judges have been kept secret and some of the 35 witnesses may
testify behind curtains to protect them from reprisal.
Defense lawyers had threatened to boycott the proceedings after two of their
colleagues were slain in two attacks following the opening session Oct. 19.
However, lawyer Khamees al-Ubaidi told the AP on Sunday that the defense team
would attend after an agreement with U.S. and Iraqi authorities on improving
security for them.
On the eve of the hearing, Clark and former Qatari Justice Minister Najib
al-Nueimi flew to the capital from Amman, Jordan, to lend weight to the defense
team. Both have been advising Saddam's lawyers and support their call to have
the trial moved out of Iraq because of the violence.
However, neither Clark nor al-Nueimi has been officially recognized by the
court as legal counsel. U.S. and Iraqi officials said Saddam's chief lawyer,
Khalil al-Dulaimi, did not officially request permission for any foreign
attorneys to attend the trial.
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