Posted on 12/15/2003 6:23:58 AM PST by areafiftyone
TEHRAN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Iran's government said on Monday it was preparing a criminal complaint to present at any international court that may try Saddam Hussein over the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
"The Foreign Ministry has taken some measures on this issue and has collected the necessary documents. I hope we can defend Iranians' rightful demands at a proper place," government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told a news conference.
Around 300,000 Iranians were killed in the eight-year war, including thousands in chemical weapons attacks by the Iraqi army. U.S.-led troops ousted Saddam, the Iraqi dictator, in April and captured him on Saturday.
Ramazanzadeh said that while the Iraqi people have priority in trying Saddam, "that doesn't negate the rights of others for filing a suit at international circles against him".
"We naturally want him to stand trial at a fair international court and such a court should look into the crimes of this dictator," he added.
Iraqi Governing Council members on Sunday indicated Saddam would be put on trial in Iraq under a new tribunal system set up last week to try Saddam and fellow Baathist leaders.
Iran has longstanding war reparations claims of tens of billions of dollars against Iraq for the bloody war which Saddam launched in 1980 with an invasion of his eastern neighbour.
LIMITED PROSPECTS
But Iran's prospects of trying Saddam in an international court are limited.
The International Court for Justice in The Hague, the United Nations' highest court, can resolve disputes between countries but is not a criminal tribunal with the power to try individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is also not an option. It only has the power to try war crimes committed after the court came into force in 2002 and neither Iran nor Iraq -- or the United States, Russia or China for that matter -- has signed up to it.
Legal experts said Iran's only other options would be to try to extradite Saddam to stand trial in Iran or to provide evidence to an Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam.
Iran's conservative newspapers, full of conspiracy theories about Saddam's capture, expressed doubts that Iraq's U.S.-led occupiers would grant him an open trial.
"Will they allow Saddam to be brought to justice as a war criminal in an open court so that he can freely talk about his crimes against the Muslims and those who encouraged him?" the Tehran Times asked.
Iran has long held that the United States and western European countries armed Saddam against Iran which, after the 1979 Islamic revolution, was perceived as a bigger regional threat by the West.
"It should become clear at such an (international) court who were those who mobilised this dictator to create turmoil in the region," Ramazanzadeh said.
Iran has welcomed the capture of Saddam, described by Ramazanzadeh as "one of the biggest criminals of this century."
"Saddam's humiliating surrender shows that if anyone does not yield to his own nation he must surrender to foreign powers in a humiliating fashion," he said.
France and Germany want Iraqui rebuilding contracts, but that's not gonna happen (either).
Can't blame the Iranians for wanting a piece of Saddam's hide, but the only way they might have had any say in what happens to him is if they had joined the coalition of liberators.
If the debt that was incurred, under the rule of Saddam is forgiven by nations such as France and Germany, then the rebuilding contracts will be issued in response.
That is not what this gambit is about. The goal is to blame the West because the Iranian regime is committed to jihad, ie., the supremacy of Islam throughout the world and the utter defeat of the West.
"Will they allow Saddam to be brought to justice as a war criminal in an open court so that he can freely talk about his crimes against the Muslims and those who encouraged him?" the Tehran Times asked.
Iran has long held that the United States and western European countries armed Saddam against Iran which, after the 1979 Islamic revolution, was perceived as a bigger regional threat by the West.
"It should become clear at such an (international) court who were those who mobilised this dictator to create turmoil in the region," Ramazanzadeh said.
Thats' the ticket! :))
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