Amman, 12 August
(AKI) - Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, Raghad
Hussein, who has accused a special Iraqi tribunal
seeking to put her father on trial of denying him
what she says is his right to select a lawyer of his
choice, has demanded that she be allowed to choose
the toppled dictator's defence counsel.
Earlier this month Raghad, announced that Saddam's
family had dissolved his Jordan-based legal team,
canceling the power of attorney it had given to
international lawyers in a move seen as reorganising
the ousted leader's legal counsel ahead of his
upcoming trial.
The family said it has appointed Khalil Dulaimi as
the "one and sole legal counsel." Dulaimi has been
part of the Jordan-based legal team for the past
year and attended some of Saddam's initial court
hearings in Baghdad.
But the Iraqi tribunal has rejected the family's
decision, saying that only the defendant, in this
case Saddam, can appoint or dismiss his lawyers.
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Former dictator
Saddam Hussein
Photo : AP
Raghad Hussein
Photo: Al Arabiya TV |
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According to some reports, Raghad and others family
member's decision to disband the legal team was made
because they were upset by statements issued by
various lawyers and wanted only one legal voice to
speak on Saddam's behalf.
Saddam's legal team had included 1,500 volunteers —
mainly Arabs — and at least 22 lead lawyers from
several countries including the United States,
France, Jordan, Iraq and Libya. Prominent among them
former US attorney general, Ramsey Clark and Libyan
law professor Aicha Moammar Gaddafi, daughter of the
Libyan leader.
Saddam's former chief lawyer Jordanian Ziad al-Khasawneh,
who resigned on 7 July, claimed members of the legal
team, especially Americans, had criticised him for
questioning the American occupation of Iraq and
declaring the resistance as "legitimate."
He claimed that Clark advised Raghad and other
members of Saddam's family that such statements hurt
Saddam's defense.
When he resigned, al-Khasawneh accused the family of
trying to give foreign lawyers, mainly Americans,
total control of the defense team, and sidelining
the Arabs.
No lawyer was at Saddam's side when he was arraigned
in July 2004 in Baghdad on broad charges that
include killing rival politicians over a 30 year
period; gassing Kurds in Halabja in 1988; invading
Kuwait in 1990; and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite
uprisings in 1991.
But the Iraqi special tribunal has allowed Dulaimi,
the Iraqi member of the defence team, to meet Saddam
at least four times this year, including twice when
Saddam was being questioned.
No official date has been set for ther trial.
Raghad, who is believed to be in her late 30s was
married to Hussein Kamel, a high-profile Iraqi
defector who reportedly shared secrets on Iraq's
weapons programme with US and British intelligence
services before he was killed on Saddam's orders
after being persuaded to return to Iraq, believing
himself to have been pardoned.
Raghad's sister, Rana Hussein was married to Hussein
Kamel's brother Saddam Kamel, who suffered the same
fate as his brother.
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