FORMER Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has
admitted ordering the attack that killed more than
180,000 Kurds, an official of the Iraqi Special
Tribunal said yesterday.
Not only did he admit ordering the attack against
Kurds in the north of the country, but he boasted
that the killings were legal and justified.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the case, said Saddam
made the statement last month during questioning.
He goes on trial before the tribunal on October 19. |
Former dictator
Saddam Hussein
Photo : AP
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The
official said Saddam demanded a court decide if he
was justified in ordering the so-called Anfal
campaign in 1987-88, which resulted in the ethnic
cleansing of numerous Kurdish communities in the
north of Iraq.
Saddam claimed Kurds in the region were aiding Iran
in the war with Iraq that had dragged on for nearly
a decade by then.
Late yesterday, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said
on TV that Saddam Hussein had confessed to killings
and other "crimes" committed during his regime,
including the Anfal operation.
"Saddam Hussein is a war criminal and he deserves to
be executed 20 times a day for his crimes against
humanity," said Mr Talabani, who heads the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan party.
He told Iraqi television that an investigating judge
"was able to extract confessions from Saddam's
mouth" about executions he had allegedly personally
ordered during his 24 years in power.
He said Saddam had tried to assassinate him at least
20 times.
But Abdel Haq Alani, Saddam's family's legal
consultant, said Mr Talabani's allegations sounded
like he was trying to prejudice the trial.
"Let's not have a trial on TV. Let the court of law,
not the media, rule on this," Mr Alani said.
The trial is likely to be the first of a series of
legal proceedings against Saddam on numerous other
charges.
The tribunal official's remarks appeared to
contradict Mr Talabani's claim that Saddam had made
a confession.
The official said that all the former dictator had
done was acknowledge having taken retribution which
was perfectly legal under his regime.
The latest revelation came as Iraq's Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the long wait for the
start of Saddam's trial was a major contributor to
instability in the country.
"There are still Ba'athist thugs at large in Iraq
who still believe Saddam Hussein is coming back," Mr
Zebari told The Independent newspaper in Baghdad.
"I believe that if he had been tried and sentenced
before, by now we would have had better control of
the security situation."
The Kurdish minister does not believe that Saddam's
trial will last long "because there is no shortage
of evidence".
"All the witnesses are there and ready to testify,"
he said.
Saddam has been confined in US custody at an
undisclosed site believed to be somewhere in Baghdad
since his capture in December 2003, eight months
after his regime was overthrown.
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