Lawyers want to visit Saddam in captivity ( 2003-12-23 09:58) (Agencies)
Jordanian and French
attorneys want to visit Saddam Hussein in captivity so they can offer to
represent him before an Iraqi war crimes tribunal, the Jordanian lawyer said
Monday.
Saleh Armouti and French attorney Emmanuel Ludot are asking the U.S. State
Department for permission to visit Saddam, who is being held by the American
military at an undisclosed location in Iraq after his Dec. 13 capture.
"As soon as we get the authorization from the State Department we shall
travel to Iraq and meet with Saddam Hussein to get an official empowerment from
him," Armouti told The Associated Press.
The Arab state, while maintaining close relations with the United States,
also has historically strong ties with neighboring Iraq and relied on Saddam's
regime for its entire oil supply.
Jordanian professional organizations, including the bar association, have
long supported Saddam, including during Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Bar
association president Hussein Mejali said last week he believed Saddam was
unlawfully deposed by coalition forces and unlawfully captured by U.S. troops.
Mejali on Monday wrote to Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and urged
him to use international laws to ensure that Saddam is not tried and instead is
handed over to a neutral country or the Red Cross.
Iraqi Governing Council members have said Saddam will be tried in a special
war crimes tribunal established with provisions taken from the International
Criminal Court.
No decision has been made on how or when Saddam will be tried or what charges
he will face. The tribunal was created days before U.S. troops captured Saddam
near his hometown of Tikrit.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark said Friday he would represent
Saddam, but added it was unlikely an international court would allow a
non-Arabic speaking foreigner who was not trained in the Arabic legal tradition
to participate.
