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Iraq
Al-Zaydi refuses to empower Saddam's lawyer to defend him
2008-12-17
Aswat al-Iraq: The official spokesman for the higher judicial council said on Tuesday that Muntadher al-Zaydi refused to entrust Khalil al-Dulaimi, who chaired the commission to defend former president Saddam Hussein, or Arab lawyers to defend him.

"The government dealt with defendant al-Zaydi according to 3rd article of the 223 clause of the Iraqi law according to which if found guilty he will spend 7-10 years behind bars," chief justice Abdelsattar al-Bayraqdar told Aswat al-Iraq.

"The session was attended by his lawyer and the general prosecutor and al-Zaydi refused to let Saddam's lawyer or Arab lawyers to defend him," he said, noting that the journalist demanded an Iraqi lawyer to defend him.

Muntadher al-Zaydi threw a pair of shoes at U.S. President George Bush during a joint press conference with the Iraqi premier.

President Bush quickly ducked when a pair of shoes was hurled at him Sunday.

Zaydi, a young man of no more than 30 years old, has worked for al-Boghdadiya since its establishment in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. He had been kidnapped two years ago by unidentified gunmen while stepping out of his home in al-Bab al-Sharqi area, central Baghdad. A week later he was found lying on the ground near auto selling stores in al-Nahda square, Baghdad, at a late night hour.

Zaydi is considered one of the journalists outspokenly criticizing the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq. He had written several reports opposing the U.S. military presence in the country.
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Iraq
Saddam's lawyer for Bush attacker
2008-12-16
An Iraqi official says a reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush is being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs.

The official tells The Associated Press that Muntadar al-Zeidi is being interrogated over whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Bush during a news conference Sunday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to talk to media.

Saddam Hussein's former lawyer said on Monday that he was forming a team to defend the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush during his farewell visit to Baghdad.

"So far around 200 Iraqi and other lawyers, including Americans, have expressed willingness to defend the journalist for free," the Amman-based Khalil al-Dulaimi told AFP.

"I took the decision on Sunday night to defend the man after the incident. I am currently contacting Arab bar associations to form a defence committee."

An Iraqi television station on Monday demanded the immediate release of one of its journalists who caused a furore when he hurled shoes at visiting Bush.

Zaidi jumped up as Bush was holding a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday, shouted "It is the farewell kiss, you dog" and threw two shoes at the US leader.

Bush ducked and the first shoe hit the American and Iraqi flags behind the two leaders, while the second was off target.

Zaidi, a reporter with the Al-Baghdadia channel, which broadcasts from Cairo, was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched from the room.

"Al-Baghdadia television demands that the Iraqi authorities immediately release their stringer Muntadhar al-Zaidi, in line with the democracy and freedom of expression that the American authorities promised the Iraqi people," it said in a statement.

In Cairo, Muzhir al-Khafaji, programmeming director for the television channel, described Zaidi as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man."

"We fear for his safety," he added.

Meanwhile President Bush wrapped up a whirlwind trip to two war zones yesterday that in many ways was a victory lap without a clear victory.

A signature event occurred when an Iraqi reporter hurled two shoes at Bush, declaring: "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

The president visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence and to celebrate a recent US-Iraq security agreement, which calls for US troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

"The war is not over," Bush said, but "it is decisively on its way to being won."

Bush then travelled to Afghanistan where he spoke to US soldiers and Marines at a hangar on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base. The rally for over a thousand military personnel took place in the dark, cold pre-dawn hours. Bush was greeted by loud cheers from the troops.

"Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago," he said. "We are making hopeful gains."

But the president's message on progress in the region was having trouble competing with the videotaped image of the angry Iraqi who hurled his shoes at Bush in a near-miss, shouting in Arabic, "This is your farewell kiss, you dog!"
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Iraq
Arab world embraces Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush
2008-12-16
Iraq faced mounting calls Monday to release the journalist who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush a day earlier, an action branded shameful by Baghdad but hailed in the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to the unpopular US president. Colleagues of Muntazer al-Zaidi, who works for independent Iraqi television station Al-Baghdadia, said he "detested America" and had been plotting such an attack for months against the man who ordered the war on his country.

"Throwing the shoes at Bush was the best goodbye kiss ever ... It expresses how Iraqis and other Arabs hate Bush," wrote Moussa Barhoumeh, editor of Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper.

Hundreds of Iraqis joined anti-US demonstrations to protest at Bush's farewell visit on Sunday to Iraq, which was plunged into a deadly insurgency and near civil war in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion.

The Iraqi government branded Zaidi's actions "shameful" and demanded an apology from his Cairo-based employer, which in turn called for his immediate release from custody.

Zaidi jumped up as Bush was holding a news conference with Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki Sunday, and shouted: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," and proceeded to throw two shoes at the US leader. The shoes missed after Bush ducked and Zaidi was wrestled to the ground by security guards. He is currently being held by the Iraqi authorities, a source in Maliki's office said.

Al-Baghdadia issued a statement demanding Zaidi's release "in line with the democracy and freedom of expression that the American authorities promised the Iraqi people."

"Any measures against Muntazer will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime," it added.

But the government called for the channel to apologize.

Saddam Hussein's former lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said he was forming a team to defend Zaidi and that around 200 lawyers, including Americans, had offered their services for free.

"It was the least thing for an Iraqi to do to Bush, the tyrant criminal who has killed 2 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Dulaimi.

"Our defense of Zaidi will be based on the fact that the United States is occupying Iraq, and resistance is legitimate by all means, including shoes."
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Iraq
State Department Iraq Weekly Report
2007-03-02
Unclassified Highlights
IP and Coalition Forces Discover Large EFP Cache:

• An informant’s tip led Iraqi Police (IP) officers from Judidah, in the Baquba area of Diyala province, and Coalition forces from the 1st Cavalry Division to a large improvised explosive device cache February 24 containing over 130 disks capable of producing Explosively-Formed Projectiles (EFPs) and two EFPs in various stages of assembly.
• Additionally, the cache contained one completed improvised mine and more than a dozen others in various stages of construction, more than two dozen mortar rounds and 15 rockets, six rocket launchers, five anti-aircraft rounds, over two dozen rocket-propelled grenade warheads, more than 400 plastic and steel containers in various stages of fabrication for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) construction, and large quantities of various IED-making material.

IA Detains 16 Suspects During Operations Against Rogue JAM:

• Special Iraqi Army (IA) forces detained 16 suspected militiamen during operations February 27 with Coalition advisers in Sadr City, targeting the leadership of several rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) cells who allegedly direct and perpetrate sectarian murder, torture, and kidnapping. The wanted individuals are reported to operate out of Sadr City and are also linked to attacks on Coalition Forces (CF) and the supply of weapons and munitions which support continued rogue JAM violence.

IP Conduct Operation Shurta Nasir to Clear Hit of Insurgents:

• Nearly 500 IP from Hit in Anbar province recently conducted Operation Shurta Nasir (Police Victory) meant to clear the town of terrorists and identify locations for new police stations.
• IP planned and led this large-scale operation in western Iraq, which included nearly 100 recent graduates from the Jordanian International Police Training Academy. A combined force of 1,000 soldiers from both the Iraqi and US armies cordoned off the area to assist the police during the operation.
• During operations in the city of roughly 100,000, the Hit police captured 13 known terrorists, one large weapons cache, and began construction of two new police stations to meet the demands of the growing department.

Suspected AQI Emir and 11 Others Detained in Raids:

• CF detained 12 suspected terrorists, including a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) emir during raids the morning of February 27, targeting foreign fighter facilitators and the AQI network.

IA Sends Troops to Support Fardh al-Qanun:

• Soldiers from the 2nd Division Iraqi Army (IA), based in Iraq’s Kurdish provinces, arrived in Baghdad February 25 to train and eventually augment the 6th and 9th IA Divisions in protecting Baghdad as part of Fardh al-Qanun (Baghdad Security Plan). An Iraqi Air Force C-130 flew the troops into Baghdad International Airport where they conducted a brief ceremony before heading out for training in preparation for their Baghdad security missions.
Wait...An Iraqi Air Force plane? They have planes? Pilots? Does Congress know?

KRG President Ready to Confront PKK:

• The President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masud Barzani, says he is ready to discuss operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group with his Turkish counterparts. He made the comment during an interview broadcast February 26.
• Turkey, which previously threatened cross-border military action to quell the PKK threat, recently signaled that it would be open to talks to resolve the issue.

Senior Iraqi Official Narrowly Escapes Assassination Attempt:

• Iraq’s Shia Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when an explosion occurred near the government building he was visiting in Baghdad. He was taken to a hospital after suffering minor wounds in the blast at the Public Works Ministry.
• A second member of the Iraqi government, Public Works Minister Riyad Ghraib, also a Shia, is thought to have been seriously injured in the attack.

Electricity:

• The completed US Army-funded rehabilitation of the ED 400V overhead distribution network in the Muhalla 883 area of Karkh, Baghdad province, provides increased electrical capacity that will benefit more than 14,000 local residents.
Now there's a big step!
• The Ninewa Ministry of Electricity (MoE) provided positive feedback on the quality of workmanship and the high level of coordination between the MoE, Gulf Region North District, Gulf Region Division and ABB regarding the completion of ET-900 Mosul 400 kV Substation Rehab (URI 16032). The project’s objective was to rehabilitate the existing substation and expand its capacity to receive and distribute power from Turkey, Syria, the Mosul Dam, and the Mosul Gas Turbine generation plant. The substation will benefit over four million citizens across the region.
That's a bigger step!
• During the week of February 22-28 electricity availability averaged 6.2 hours per day in Baghdad and 9.7 hours nationwide. Electricity output for the week was 6% below the same period in 2006.

Council of Ministers Passes Draft Hydrocarbon Law:

• On February 26, the Council of Ministers approved a draft of the hydrocarbon framework law. The next step is for the draft legislation to be submitted to the Council of Representatives for deliberation. This law is a vital component necessary for long-term economic growth in Iraq.

GOI Announces Creation of New Budget Execution Task Force:

• Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, Finance Minister Bayan Jabr, and Minister of Planning and Development Ali Baban discussed the formation of a new budget execution task force with Ambassador Carney. They will lead the task force and will have a special focus on Sunni areas.
• They also announced a March 5 conference on ministerial and provincial spending agencies, as well as a March 7 conference in Anbar province to underscore Iraqi government support for local development.

KRG Reopens Borders to US Poultry:

• The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has re-opened the Turkish-Iraqi Kurdish border to US poultry imports, provided they are not sold locally in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. However, the permanence of this solution is unclear.
US poultry imports? The Iraqis can't grow chickens? There must be more than meets the eye, here!

Trade Bank of Iraq President meets with Ex/Im Bank:

• President Hussein al-Uzri of the Trade Bank of Iraq met with representatives from the Export/Import Bank in Washington, DC February 27. In addition to meeting with the Export/Import Bank, Uzri also met with US Department of Treasury officials, and with World Bank, International Finance Corporation and JP Morgan representatives.

• Weekly Average {oil production} (February 19 – 25) of 2.14 Million Barrels Per Day (MBPD)
This is the first time they've met their goal since I've been Reporting for Rantburg. They did lower the goal several weeks ago, perhaps because of some sort of reduced capacity - like maintenance or rehabilitation?

Iraq to Hold International Trade Exhibit:

• Iraq will hold its first international trade exhibit since before the start of the war in 2003, in an effort to gain international investment and reconstruction help. The event will be held March 24-26 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Center in Manama. The trade exhibit is being organized by the Iraq government in association with Bahrain's Magnum Events and Exhibitions Management.

Japan Announces Additional Iraq Funding through the UN:

• Japan will provide additional funding to Iraq through a number of United Nations agencies, with a total of $104.5 million being provided to the UN Development Program, the UN Children's Fund, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Program, and the World Health Organization for humanitarian and reconstruction aid.
$104.5 million is barely enough to cover the cost of cocktails, caviar, and crackers.

Pakistan Hosts Summit on Iran, Iraq:

• Foreign ministers from seven Muslim nations: Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, met in Pakistan to discuss possible ways to resolve tensions in the Middle East - including in Iran and Iraq - and to curb the spread of terrorism.
That's easy; just 'wipe israel off the map'!

Neighbor’s Conference Planned for Iraq in March:

• The Iraqi Foreign Minister said that officials from regional states - including Syria and possibly Iran - will join US and British envoys at a meeting in Baghdad next month, which will seek ways to stabilize Iraq. Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the UN who are based in Baghdad confirmed they would also participate.
The UN? In Baghdad? Who knew?

Egypt Ends Transmission of Iraq Satellite Channel:

• An Information Ministry official said February 26 that Egypt has stopped its satellite transmission of the private Iraqi channel al-Zawraa. The chairman of the board of Egyptian government-owned satellite channel NileSat said the feed was cut for technical reasons and was not an act of censorship. Al-Zawraa's owner said the move was politically-motivated and plans to sue Egypt.
• Al-Zawraa’s pro-Sunni programming – which has come under criticism from both the US and Iraqi governments - has accused the Shiite-led Iraqi government of killing Sunnis and being a front for Iran. Al-Zawraa is also transmitted via ArabSat.

Here's some News You Can Use!Saddam’s Lawyer to Publish Book About the Former Dictator:

• Saddam Hussein’s former chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said February 25 that he plans to publish a book this year disclosing secret information about the former dictator.
• Dulaimi also said he would reprint as many as 300 personal letters, poems and other works penned by Saddam.
Link


Iraq
Saddam lawyer seeks to prevent handover
2006-12-28
I think he wants Sammy handed over to the editorial board of the Boston Globe...
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer implored world leaders on Thursday to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities for execution, saying he should enjoy protection from his enemies as a "prisoner of war."
...but what about (shudder)...Abu Ghraib!!!
Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail in 1982. The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days. "According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary," Saddam's lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said.
I thought we were his adversary?
"I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities," he told The Associated Press.
Calling all moonbats! Calling all moonbats!!
An official close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said Saddam would remain in a U.S. military prison until he is handed over to Iraqi authorities on the day of his execution.
Nope. Sorry, Sam. No Doritos today...
Al-Dulaimi warned that turning over Saddam to the Iraqis would increase the sectarian violence that already is tearing the country apart."If the American administration insists in handing the president to the Iraqis, it would commit a great strategic mistake which would lead to the escalation of the violence in Iraq and the eruption of a destructive civil war," he said.
Yes, yes. I'm sure this is his main concern...
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there was concern about the potential for violence in carrying out the execution. "I'm sure the Iraqi government is thinking through that and working with the coalition in terms of the impact that could have," he said.
Everybody would've been better off if somebody tossed a few grenades down that rathole they found him in.
Against the backdrop of sectarian killings that have dragged Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims into civil warfare, Saddam urged Iraqis in a letter posted on a Web site Wednesday to "remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness and brotherly coexistence." But he also voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen."
Looks like they'll live longer then you, Sammy...
An official from Prime Minister al-Maliki's Dawa Party, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Wednesday that "the government wants Saddam executed as soon as possible."
So what's the holdup?
Issam Ghazzawi, another member of Saddam's defense team, said there was no way of knowing when the former dictator's execution would take place. "The only person who can predict the execution of the president ... is God and (President) Bush," Ghazzawi said Thursday.
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Iraq
Saddam lawyer walks out of court
2006-10-31
Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer walked out of court on Monday after presenting demands to end a boycott of the toppled Iraqi president’s genocide trial. Khalil al-Dulaimi, who has since September been boycotting Saddam’s genocide trial against the Kurds after the government sacked the previous judge, made a brief appearance in a Baghdad courtroom to present a list of 12 demands.

They included an investigation into allegations that one of Saddam’s co-defendants was beaten up by his prison guards last month and that the court allow defence counsel to have Arab and foreign lawyers in court. He also demanded a probe into documents he said went missing in the lawyers’ Green Zone office.

Chief judge Mohammed al-Ureybi, who took over the case in September, said Arab and foreign lawyers could only attend as advisors. Dulaimi then walked out of courtroom and the proceedings continued with a court-appointed lawyer. Before Dulaimi made his demands, Ureybi interrupted him for addressing Saddam as “my president”. “There is no president in this court except for the president of this court,” the judge said.
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Iraq
Saddam Hussein tells Iraqis their 'liberation' is at hand
2006-10-18
Saddam Hussein has told his countrymen that Iraq's "liberation is at hand" and called on insurgents to be merciful with their enemy, according to an open letter obtained Monday. In the three-page letter, dictated to his lawyers, Saddam also urges Iraqis to set aside sectarian and ethnic differences and focus instead on driving the US forces out of Iraq. "The hour of liberation is at hand, God willing, but remember that your near-term goal is confined to freeing your country from the forces of occupation and their followers and not to be preoccupied in settling scores," Saddam writes in the Arabic-language letter, which is dated Sunday and signed by "Saddam Hussein al-Majid, President and commander in chief of the holy warrior armed forces."

Saddam says he is resorting to the letter, addressed to all Iraqis, because "my chances to express my opinion are limited" in detention. Saddam's chief defense lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said the former president dictated the letter during a four-hour meeting in a Baghdad detention center on Saturday. Al-Dulaimi typed the letter on Sunday.

Al-Dulaimi said that during the meeting, they discussed Saddam's two current trials. In the one, he is charged with killing of 148 Shiites from the town of Dujail in the 1980s, and in the other he is charged with genocide against the Kurds during a military offensive in 1987-88, code-named Operation Anfal. The lawyer declined to be more specific about the talks, which were attended by Saddam's other lawyers, including former US attorney general Ramsey Clark.

Iraqis were "living the most difficult period in history because of the occupation, killing, destruction and looting," Saddam says in the letter. Responding to fears that Iraq is on the verge of breaking apart, Saddam writes that he yearns for a "great unified Iraq, which is not split by any color, segment or allegation."

He expresses pain over the extent of the fighting between the country's majority Shiite population and its Sunni minority, the backbone of Iraq's insurgency. "My heart fails me," he writes, referring to what he regards as the foreigners' success in "sowing divisions among us."

"This was never a real reason for division in the past," he adds.

He urges Sunnis to forgive their Iraqi opponents, including those who helped the US forces track down his two sons - Odai and Qussai - who were killed in a battle with American soldiers in the northern city of Mosul in 2003. "When you achieve victory," he tells the insurgents, "remember you are God's soldiers and, therefore, you must show genuine forgiveness and put aside revenge over the spilled blood of your sons and brothers, including the sons of Saddam Hussein."

Saddam proceeds to invoke Islam's Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ to stress that the insurgents must forgive. "You must remember what the prophets taught us, including the two honorable ones, Muhammad and Jesus, the son of Mary. Both forgave and turned to God, beseeching him to forgive those whom they had forgiven, including those who had hurt them."

He also urges the insurgents to chose their targets carefully. "I call on you, brothers and comrades in the brave resistance, to apply justice and righteousness in your jihad (holy war), and refrain from being drawn into recklessness, God forbid."

He warns that by employing excessive force, the insurgents stand to alienate public opinion. "You shouldn't attack for the sake of attacking when there is an opportunity to carry a gun, but only when the situation dictates that," he writes.
Link


Iraq
Iraq removes chief judge in Saddam trial
2006-09-19
The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was replaced Tuesday amid complaints from Shiite and Kurdish officials that he was too soft on the former Iraqi leader, a move that could raise accusations of government interference in the highly sensitive case.

The government spokesman's office announced that judge Abdullah al-Amiri was removed but did not say who would take his place or why he was replaced. He was replaced on the five-member panel by Mohammed al-Uraibiy, who was his deputy in the trial, said a court source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Al-Uraibiy is a Shiite Arab, the source said.

The Arab satellite stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera said al-Amiri was removed after a request from Iraq's prime minister.

Hussein al-Duri, an aide to the prime minister, said one reason was al-Amiri's comments last week in a court session, in which the judge told Saddam, "You were not a dictator."

"The head of the court is requested to run and control the session, and he is not allowed to violate judicial regulations, " al-Duri told Al-Arabiya television. "It is not allowed for the judge to express his opinion."

Al-Amiri's comment angered many Kurds and Shiites, fueling their criticism that he was too lenient with Saddam. Prosecutors had already asked for al-Amiri to be replaced after he allowed Saddam to lash out at Kurdish witnesses during a court session.

The change could revive complaints that the government is interfering in the tribunal trying Saddam and his regime members to ensure a quick guilty verdict. In the current trial, Saddam faces a possible death penalty if convicted on genocide charges over the Anfal military offensive against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s.

In Saddam's first trial - over alleged atrocities against Shiites in the town of Dujail - the chief judge stepped down halfway through the nine-month-long proceedings, saying he could no longer put up with criticism from officials that he was too lenient in allowing courtroom outbursts by Saddam and his co-defendants.

He was replaced by a far tougher judge who several times threw out defendants and defense lawyers he said were out of line.

A verdict in the Dujail trial is expected on Oct. 16.

Al-Amiri presided over the latest session of trial Tuesday, in which more Kurdish survivors of Anfal recounted chemical bombardment of their villages by the Iraqi military.

One witness, Iskandar Mahmoud Abdul-Rahman, a major in the Kurdistan security force, told the court that an attack on his village began on March 20, 1988, when Iraqi aircraft appeared over the skies.

"We dropped to the floor; white smoke covered us, it smelled awful," Abdul-Rahman testified in Kurdish. "My heart raced. I started to vomit. I felt dizzy. My eyes burned and I couldn't stand on my feet."

Abdul-Rahman said he was treated at two hospitals in Iran, and lost consciousness for 10 days.

"The doctors were frequently giving me injections and medication, including eye drops. They cut the burned skin with scissors," he said, adding that his eyesight remains poor.

Abdul-Rahman then removed his blue shirt. There were several dark scars, each about 8 inches long, on his back.

Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, and prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon approached the witness to take a close look.

Saddam and six other defendants are on trial for alleged atrocities against Kurds during Operation Anfal, a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas in the late 1980s. The prosecution alleges some 180,000 people died in the campaign, many of them civilians killed by poison gas.

Saddam and his cousin "Chemical" Ali al-Majid are charged with genocide, and the others are accused of various offenses. All could face death by hanging if convicted.

Two other witnesses also testified Tuesday, repeating allegations of abuse suffered in the crackdown.

Raouf Faraj Abdullah, a 55-year-old farmer, told of poor living conditions and a shortage of food in a detention camp in the northern city of Irbil.

"The people of Irbil tossed food over the barbed wire," said the man, who had a thick black mustache and wore a traditional Kurdish headdress.

He said he was moved to another camp, where he was separated from his 2-year-old son and his wife, who later gave birth in her prison cell.

"When I went to see her, I found out that my newborn baby had died," he said.

Abdullah said 28 people were killed in attacks on his village.

A third witness, Ubeyd Mahmoud Mohammed, said 70 people, including his wife and six children, were killed by an attack on his village March 22, 1988.

Saddam, dressed in a dark suit with a white handkerchief in his chest pocket, sat silently throughout the testimony, taking notes.

But the session was marked by a heated exchange between the senior prosecutor, Jaafar al-Moussawi, and defense lawyer Badee Izzat Aref, who accused prosecutors of misleading the court by presenting a witness who allegedly had a forged passport.

He referred to an Iraqi Kurd who told the court Monday that he sought asylum in the Netherlands where he acquired Dutch citizenship in 1994.

Saddam and his lawyers argued that Iraqi law barred dual nationality, and asked that the man's testimony be stricken from the record.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan stands by Saddam's daughter
2006-07-03
JORDAN insisted yesterday that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter would remain under its protection, despite calls from authorities in Baghdad for her extradition.
Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit said no formal extradition request had been received from Iraq following the naming of Raghad Saddam Hussein as Baghdad's 16th most wanted fugitive.

Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie called for Jordan, a US ally, to hand over Ms Hussein.

But Mr Bakhit said the ousted Iraqi president's daughter had complied with the conditions of her asylum in Jordan and that she remained under the protection of the royal family of King Abdullah II.

"She is the guest of the Hashemite royal family and under its protection as a seeker of asylum", in accordance with Arab tradition, he said.

Ms Hussein had heeded demands that she refrain from "any political or media activities", Mr Bakhit said, contradicting accusations by Mr Rubaie that she was a financial supporter of the insurgents in Iraq.

"These people are responsible for most of the bombings and indiscriminate killings aimed at hurting the Iraqi people and starting a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shi'ites," Mr Rubaie said as he presented a new list naming 41 Iraqis as wanted by the Baghdad Government.

The list includes Saddam's wife Sajida, who lives in the Gulf state of Qatar, as well as the Amman-based Ms Hussein.

But the ousted Iraqi leader's defence team dismissed the accusations against the two women as "totally without legal basis".

Lead counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi described the accusations of bankrolling the insurgency made against Saddam's daughter as absurd, saying: "If she had the financial means, she would have financially supported the defence team."

The new Iraqi wanted list was topped by Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, who was number two in Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council in Saddam's regime. He is the highest-ranking Iraqi official still on the run.

Washington has put a bounty of $US10million ($13.6 million) on the head of Mr Duri, who is said to be suffering from leukemia and who has in the past been reported to have died or been captured.

"He is likely still an operational leader with close ties to other insurgents," according to the list.

Mr Rubaie called for regional support in helping to track down fugitive suspects.

"Neighbouring countries must help Iraq and hand over those terrorists living within their territories," he said.

"Those who are outside must be handed over to Iraqi justice. We have evidence on every single one of them."

Jordan has had difficult relations with the Shia-led Government installed in Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003.

The prominent role played by some Jordanians in the Sunni insurgency, notably by the late al-Qa'ida frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has fanned anti-Jordanian sentiment among Iraq's Shia majority.

And King Abdullah has angered the Baghdad authorities by warning of the mounting influence of Shia Iran in Iraq, Jordan's eastern neighbour.

Many on the new Iraqi wanted list were officials of the old regime who were in the US "deck of cards" of its 55 most wanted suspects released after the 2003 invasion, but who have yet to be captured.

The list includes al-Qa'ida's new Iraq frontman, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, at No30, with a $US50,000 price on his head, as well as Abdullah al-Janabi, the former head of the Mujahideen Shura Council, an al-Qa'ida insurgent alliance.

The US State Department authorised a reward of up to $US5million on Friday for information leading to the capture of the new al-Qa'ida leader in Iraq, whom it refers to as Abu Ayub al-Masri.
Link


Iraq
Saddam Thinks U.S. Will Beg for His Help
2006-06-26
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday. Khalil al-Dulaimi argued in an interview with The Associated Press that the former leader is the key to returning stability to Iraq. "He's their last resort. They're going to knock at his door eventually," the lawyer said. Saddam is "the only person who can stop the resistance against the U.S. troops." There is no indication U.S. officials have considered seeking his help. While Saddam's once dominant fellow Sunni Arabs are the backbone of the insurgency, the Shiite Muslim majority and Kurds repressed by his regime would be enflamed by his presence.

The comments from Al-Dulaimi, the head of Saddam's defense team, portrayed a deposed leader who seems to hold out hope he can bargain his way out of trials that threaten him with the death penalty. Al-Dulaimi said Saddam brought up the topic during a meeting Tuesday, and indicated he would be willing to help the United States - "for the sake of saving both peoples - the Iraqis and Americans."

He quoted Saddam as saying:

"These puppets in the Iraqi government that the Americans brought to power are helpless. They can't protect themselves or the Iraqi people. The Americans will certainly come to me, to Saddam Hussein's legitimate leadership and to the Iraqi Baath Party, to rescue them from their huge quandary."

Although he would not say exactly what Saddam might ask in return for helping, al-Dulaimi said it would not necessarily involve being reinstated as president of Iraq - a nation he ruled brutally and plunged into three devastating wars.
The lawyer suggested, though, that Saddam might be willing to negotiate such help by making the verdict in his trial a bargaining chip. Saddam and seven of his former officials are on trial in the deaths of 148 people during a crackdown on a Shiite village, and Iraqis widely expect the ousted leader to be sentenced to be hanged. He also is due to begin a second trial that could end with the death penalty.

When Saddam mentioned he expected the Americans to seek his help, al-Dulaimi said he asked the former leader if he would really be willing to help the country who toppled him from power. Saddam replied that he would, said al-Dulaimi, a Sunni who considers Saddam to remain Iraq's legitimate president.
"We will do that for the sake of preventing more bloodshed, for the liberty of all Iraqis," al-Dulaimi quoted Saddam as saying. Saddam predicted Iraq would "flourish within five years," saying that was the time that would be needed for reconstruction that would transform the country into the envy of the region, the lawyer said.

He said Saddam also believes he will be given the death penalty in the current trial, which began in October. The prosecution summed up its case last Monday, and defense lawyers are to begin their final arguments July 10, after which the five judges are expected to take several months to reach a verdict. Al-Dulaimi claimed the outcome of the trial has already been determined. "The ongoing trial and verdict, which are already decided by Washington, are expected to result in the death penalty," he said. "The death penalty is political blackmail to pressure President Saddam to help the American forces out of their predicament in Iraq and to rescue it from the mess it created there."

Al-Dulaimi said Washington also should look to Saddam as the only person who can stop the growing influence of Iran and radical Shiite Muslims in the region.
Pointing to Saddam's 1980-88 war with Iran - a conflict in which the United States and others backed Iraq - he said Saddam served as a counterbalance to Iranian power. The Bush administration should recognize the "hard reality" that the U.S. invasion of Iraq delivered the mostly secular Arab nation into the hands of Shiites strongly sympathetic to their larger Iranian neighbor, the lawyer said. "Iran is the enemy of Arabs, Islam and the United States, and the only person who can stand in the face of Iran is Saddam Hussein," he said.
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Iraq
Drudge: Crazy Saddam: Americans Might Reinstall Me As President!
2006-06-24
Sat Jun 24 2006 11:25:37 ET

Saddam Hussein believes the Americans may reinstall him as president of Iraq, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning to report on Sunday, newsroom sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

Saddam Hussein has no illusions, his chief lawyer says. As he sits in his prison cell reading the Quran and writing poetry, he knows the inevitable is coming -- a death sentence handed down by the Iraqi court trying him for crimes against humanity.

Yet Saddam refuses to submit to the fate that awaits him, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said, for he believes there is a way out. President Bush will use the court's sentence as leverage to try to persuade Saddam to tamp down the insurgency, he said, so desperate are the Americans to stanch their losses.

Saddam believes the Americans might even reinstall him as president of Iraq.
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Iraq
Lawyer Representing Saddam Hussein Killed
2006-06-21
One of Saddam Hussein's lawyers was shot to death Wednesday after he was abducted from his home by men wearing police uniforms in Baghdad, court and police officials said. Khamis al-Obeidi, who represented Saddam and his half brother Barzan Ibrahim in their eight-month-old trial, was abducted from his house at 7 a.m., said Saddam's top lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi. His body was found shot to death on a street near the Shiite slum of Sadr City, police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi confirmed that al-Obeidi had been killed, although he did not provide any details.

Unlike al-Dulaimi, who shuttles between Amman, Jordan, and the Iraqi capital, al-Obeidi chose to continue to living in Baghdad during the trial despite the capital's tenuous security and the killing of two members of the defense team last year.

Al-Dulaimi blamed the Interior Ministry, which Sunnis have alleged is infiltrated by so-called Shiite death squads, for the killing. "We strongly condemn this act and we condemn the killings done by the Interior Ministry forces against Iraqis," he said, adding that U.S.-led forces also bore responsibility because the war had allowed Shiite militias to gain influence in Iraq.

A dozen masked gunmen abducted defense lawyer Saadoun al-Janabi from his Baghdad office the day after the trial's opening session in October. His body was found the next day with two bullets in his head. Nearly three weeks later, defense lawyer Adel al-Zubeidi was assassinated in a brazen daylight ambush in Baghdad. A colleague who was wounded fled the country.

The defense has asked Iraqi authorities for increased protection and threatened to boycott the trial unless this was provided.
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