Posted on 03/17/2003 11:10:05 AM PST by kattracks
COPENHAGEN, Denmark March 17 —A former Iraqi general under house arrest while Danish prosecutors investigate his alleged role in gas attacks on Kurds has disappeared, his son said Monday.
The circumstances around former Gen. Nizar al-Khazraji's disappearance were murky and few details were released. He had been under house arrest in his adopted country of Denmark since November.
Prosecutor Birgitte Vestberg is investigating claims that al-Khazraji, a former Iraqi army chief of staff, was responsible for poison gas attacks in northern Iraq in 1988 that killed more than 5,000 Kurds.
Al-Khazraji, 63, says Saddam Hussein, not he, controlled the chemical stockpiles, and some Kurdish opposition groups have defended the general.
Al-Khazraji an outspoken critic of Saddam left Iraq in 1995 and has been living in Denmark since 1999. He has outlined plans for regime change under which the army would take over temporarily until a new government can be elected, and his name has surfaced as one of several potential interim leaders should Saddam be ousted.
His son, Mohammad al-Khazraji, told The Associated Press that his father had stepped out of his home in Soroe, 60 miles southwest of the capital, Copenhagen, for an early morning cigarette and didn't return.
"We contacted the police and asked for their help to find him," Mohammed said. "It's a very bad situation and I'm very confused."
Investigators said they issued a national arrest warrant for al-Khazraji. They also were seeking an international warrant.
Police said they searched a nearby patch of woods where al-Khazraji typically takes walks. The Scandinavian country's border points were told to be on the lookout for him.
Al-Khazraji was placed under house arrest in November after he applied for a passport to travel to Saudi Arabia as a means of getting to Kurdish northern Iraq. The house arrest order meant Al-Khazraji was not allowed to leave his house without permission and was required to report to the police regularly.
Vestberg said she was not aware what happened to him and her investigation into his alleged crimes would continue.
"He could have gotten ill on his walk and collapsed or he could have been abducted or he could have tried to leave the country on his own," she said.
Al-Khazraji's lawyer, Anders Josefsen, said his main concern was the general's safety.
"I was very surprised to hear it, I didn't expect this and I hope he's OK," he told the AP.
Under the Geneva Conventions, which calls for countries to prosecute or expel war criminals, Denmark is obligated to investigate claims he was involved in the poison gas attack.
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.