Posted on 06/30/2004 4:46:00 AM PDT by kattracks
BAGHDAD, June 30 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein, who brutalised Iraqis for decades, said good morning and sought to ask some questions when the United States handed him over to Iraqi justice on Wednesday, a witness said.Saddam, who was captured hiding near his hometown of Tikrit in December, looked in good health as he appeared before an Iraqi judge in the first legal step towards a trial for the cruelties he inflicted during his 35 years of power.
"Saddam said good morning and asked if he could ask some questions," Salem Chalabi, a lawyer leading the work of a tribunal that will try the former dictator, told Reuters.
"He was told he should wait until tomorrow," said Chalabi, who was in the courtroom where Saddam and 11 of his former lieutenants were turned over to Iraqi legal custody.
But many of the other former Iraqi officials were nervous and agitated, said Chalabi, who has received numerous death threats since taking on the task of helping amass evidence against Saddam and preparing a special tribunal to try him.
Saddam, 67, is accused by Iraqis of torturing and killing hundreds of thousands of people with the help of officials in his Baath party. Saddam became president in 1979, but had already been Iraq's strongman since a Baathist coup in 1968.
His former lieutenants appeared nervous and some were hostile as they were told they would be charged on Thursday.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in poison gas attacks, including one that killed about 5,000 Iraqi Kurds in Halabja in 1988, appeared especially rattled.
"He looked very scared. He was shaking," said Chalabi.
Saddam will remain in the physical custody of U.S. forces. He and the 11 others are to be charged on Thursday.
Saddam fled when U.S. forces entered Baghdad on April 9 last year after making a final defiant public appearance near a mosque in the capital. He was then filmed, looking disoriented, unkempt and with a bushy beard, as U.S. military doctors examined him after his capture on December 13.
Among others to be handed over were former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz; Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and adviser; Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, his secretary; Sabawi Ibrahim, Saddam's maternal half-brother; Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother and adviser; and Aziz Salih Numan, Baath Party regional commander and head of the party militia.
These men and others among the 55 most wanted Iraqis on a U.S. list are seen as witnesses who could help prove a chain of command linking Saddam to crimes against humanity.
Saddam will be charged with ordering the 1988 massacres of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, according to Chalabi.
I think if anyone wants to send Saddam a consolation present, he could use a box of Depends.
I thought they discovered when he was first checked over that Saddam had some fatal disease that was going to take him out soon.
If so, my guess is he'll die of natural causes before justice can be administered.
Saddam needs to seek a change of venue.
I've never heard anything about a fatal disease. Unless you're counting the gallows, guillotine or firing squads as diseases.
Yeah, but this is Reuters. So < shrug > who knows?
Dan
"Now it's time for them to get theirs...."
The harder they come, the harder they fall.
I hope he catches Goering Syndrome.
"He looked very scared. He was shaking," said Chalabi.
The Grim Reaper is coming for you Chemical Ali....and I hope you die a slow death.
"Good morning, could I ask some questions..."
"Do you suppose they could get me a softer bed and some better reading material, like maybe Playboy? And I would prefer filet minon instead of this SOS. Also, could I have a bath and a shave?"
Yes.. obviously he won't get a fair trial in Iraq. They should move him to some place like Oregon.
Yeah, lead poisoning.
Should the Depends be with, before or after
the Arsnic and Old Lace?
My history is escaping me this morning. Please explain Goering Syndrome.
When was he nabbed?
Was he read his rights??
I was thinking San Francisco. He would be hailed as a hero and elected mayor.
Yep, nothing like a poison pill to end the trial, hmm?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.