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Iraq: Saddam trial done this year
21.6.2005
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BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 21, 2005
(CBS/AP) Iraq's justice minister said Tuesday that
Saddam Hussein's trial on war crimes charges will be
over by the end of the year and accused the United
States of trying to delay interrogations of Saddam.
Abdel Hussein Shandal's comments underlined the
Iraqi government's determination to bring the ousted
leader to trial swiftly. They also reflected
behind-the-scenes tension between Iraq and the U.S.,
as American officials worry about the prospect of
Iraq rushing into a trial unprepared.
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Photo : Saddam, AP
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"It
seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide,"
Shandal told The Associated Press in an exclusive
interview. There was no immediate comment from U.S.
officials, but they have said publicly in the past
that Iraq gets to make the decisions about Saddam's
trial.
Shandal, in Brussels along with other Iraqi leaders
for an international conference on Iraq, said no
date has been set for Saddam's trial, but was
confident it would conclude by the end of 2005.
"This trial will be accomplished within 2005 — and
this will only be in Iraqi courts," he said.
U.S. officials, however, privately have urged
caution about rushing into a trial, saying the
Iraqis need to develop a good judicial system — one
of the main topics of discussion at the EU-U.S.-hosted
conference on Iraq Wednesday.
They also worry a trial could interfere with the key
process of writing a constitution. The Iraqi
government must finish a draft by mid-August so they
can hold a referendum on the charter ahead of
December elections for a full-term government.
U.S. officials also say putting Saddam, a Sunni, on
trial could inflame sectarian tensions in
already-turbulent Iraq.
There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi
Special Tribunal, which is to put Saddam on trial.
Officials referred to a past announcement on the
issue, saying there was no timetable for the trial.
The tribunal in the past has criticized government
officials, including Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's
spokesman, Laith Kuba, for suggesting that a
timetable had been set. Kuba said in early June that
Saddam's trial would start in two months.
The tribunal also has sought to stress its
independence from the government.
"Any date to start the trials belongs to the
judges," the tribunal said in a June 6 statement.
Saddam, who is being held in a U.S.-run detention
facility near the Baghdad airport, was captured in
December 2003. He and 11 of his top lieutenants will
be tried by the IST, which was set up in late 2003
after Saddam was toppled.
"Now we are in the process of interrogation. The
process requires collecting evidence, but the rule
of Saddam was for 35 years and we need a lot of
evidence, a lot of interrogations," Shandal said.
Saddam, 68, faces charges that include killing rival
politicians over 30 years, gassing Kurds in the
northern town of Halabja in 1988, invading Kuwait in
1990, and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings
in 1991. Shandal said he also would face charges
related to the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure.
If convicted, he faces the death penalty.
www.cbsnews.com
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