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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi judges on Saturday
started interrogating Saddam Hussein's former
defense minister and the notorious general known as
Chemical Ali, opening the first phase in the trial
process for leading figures of the ousted regime.
Sultan Hashim Ahmad, Saddam's last defense chief,
and Ali Hassan al-Majid, accused of using poisonous
chemical gas against thousands of Kurds in the
1980s, are the first to appear from among 11 Saddam
deputies who, along with Saddam himself, face
prosecution for crimes during the ousted dictator's
three decade rule.
"Ali Hassan al-Majid and Sultan Hashim have been
interrogated and their lawyers attended the
investigative hearing," said Raad al-Juhyim, the
head of a panel of investigative judges who quizzed
the two defendants.
In video footage from the hearings released later,
al-Majid appeared haggard and was leaning on a
walking stick before sitting in front of a judge
behind a desk, while brief clips of Ahmad showed
police officers standing to either side of him
holding his arms as the former defense minister
stared blankly at the ground.
The videos were the first images of the men since
they were initially arraigned in July along with
Saddam and the other detainees. Both wore
gray-colored suits and white shirts without ties and
arrived at the tribunal flanked by blue uniformed
police.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said on
Tuesday that detained leaders of Saddam's toppled
regime would start appearing before court in the
coming week.
Officials close to the Special Tribunal that has
been established to try Saddam and the leaders on a
range of charges linked to the former dictator's
three decade rule have said Saddam and 11 of his top
leaders would face initial investigative hearings.
"This (the Saturday hearings) is what the doctor (Allawi)
announced," said Thair al-Naqeeb, spokesman for the
interim prime minister. He added that the hearing
was closed to the media.
The tribunal has said the investigative hearings are
the first step of the trial process for Saddam and
his defendants and will be run by investigative
judges.
"We should make a distinction between the trial and
the investigation," al-Juhyi said. "We are talking
about the investigation and Ali Hasan al-Majid has
been interrogated about the charges against him.
We're in the investigation phase. Ali Hasan al-Majid,
like other defendants, appeared before the
investigative judge."
Al-Juhyi did not specify the charges against al-Majid,
but the former general is accused of ordering the
1988 Halabja chemical weapons attacks that killed
thousands of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and
suppressing a 1991 Shiite uprising in southern Iraq.
Ahmad surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003
at a coalition military base in Mosul, but was not
considered to be a war crimes suspect and many had
expected that he would be freed after being
questioned.
The judges interrogating the ex-regime leaders are
expected to gather evidence against them before
laying formal charges, after which the detainees
will face fully fledged trials.
Putting former Baath regime leaders on trial is seen
as a crucial step in Iraq's post-Saddam
reconstruction, but human rights groups and lawyers
for the defendants have raised concerns over the
access of legal representatives to the detainees.
Iraq's justice minister has also accused his
government of rushing to try the officials, and that
the trial process should begin only after Iraq holds
its Jan. 30 elections.
"Trials as symbolic as those against the dignitaries
of the former regime should only start after the
establishment of an Iraqi government with ballot-box
legitimacy," Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan
told Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview
published Thursday.
Allawi's critics have also accused him of announcing
the commencement of the hearings to gain political
points ahead of next month's national elections, the
first since Saddam was captured a year.
AP
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