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Saddam trial verdict may be delayed again
29.10.2006
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BAGHDAD, October 29,-- The chief prosecutor at
the court trying ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
for crimes against humanity has said that the
verdict, due in seven days, could be delayed again
by up to two weeks.
Two weeks ago the Iraqi High Tribunal delayed the
judgement in the trial of Saddam and seven
co-defendants for ordering the deaths of 148 Shiite
villagers from the village of Dujail until at least
November 5.
But chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi told AFP:
"There are checks which still have to be completed.
"If the judicial body overseeing these checks has
not finished by November 5, I expect the court to
delay its next hearing by one or two weeks before
announcing the verdict," he added on Sunday.
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Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP |
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US officials close to the court have said the Iraqi
panel of judges is working carefully on a lengthy
judgement against Saddam designed to withstand both
an expected appeal and the scrutiny of international
legal experts.
The 69-year-old former leader and his seven
co-defendants are on trial for allegedly ordering
the destruction of Dujail, a Shiite community 60
kilometres (35 miles) north of Baghdad, in revenge
for a 1982 attempt on Saddam's life.
Saddam and two of his alleged henchman -- his half
brother and intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti and
his former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan --
face the death penalty if convicted.
Hearings were held between October 19 and July 26 in
the court, part of a fortified building in Baghdad's
well-protected Green Zone.
The Dujail trial is separate from a second case,
dubbed the Anfal trial, in which Saddam and give
different co-defendants are facing genocide and war
crimes charges relating to a 1988 campaign against
Iraq's Kurdish minority.
Hearings in the Anfal case are due to resume on
Monday.
AFP
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