Sept. 25
IRAQ:
U.S. official: Saddam trial won't start this year----Allawi using tribunal
for political purposes, ex-chairman says
The war crimes trial of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein won't begin
any time soon because deteriorating security is hampering
information-gathering in the case, a senior U.S. official said Friday.
"The likelihood of any trial in the near future is remote" said the
official, speaking to reporters at a background briefing. He said it was
only a possibility that the trial would get under way next year.
It is also unlikely that any of regime's top 11 officials would face trial
in front of the Iraqi Special Tribunal before the end of this year, the
official said.
Those officials include former deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who often
defended the regime internationally, and Ali Hassan al-Majid, dubbed
"Chemical Ali" for his alleged role in the use of chemical weapons on
Iraqi civilians. 2 of Saddam's half-brothers are also in the group, along
with his vice president, defense minister and presidential secretary.
In addition, the official raised serious doubts about recent remarks by
interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi that the court session could start in
the autumn.
"No pressure from Ayad Allawi or any other corridor has been put on the
tribunal to meet any deadline" the official said.
Difficulties of building cases
A team of 21 judges has the complex and dangerous job of building cases
against Saddam and his aides, the official said.
The 6-month period allotted to complete the investigation is set to expire
in December, but it can be extended. After charges are filed, evidence
will be passed to a 5-judge panel.
The official said escalating violence and risks have limited the access of
the investigative teams to exhumation sites, sites of mass graves and
witnesses, and the security of the investigators is a daily concern.
A key part of the probe is building a "command-responsibility case," and
that has faced complications.
A command-responsibility case requires a link between the chain of command
for the military and the regime, and the people who carried out orders
that resulted in crimes.
The official said the disappearance of documents, witnesses and evidence,
and the deterioration of sites of criminal interest, have made the process
more difficult.
The official said that after the fall of Saddam's regime, the families of
victims rushed to suspected sites of mass graves in attempts to retrieve
the bodies of loved one who had disappeared.
In the process, evidence was destroyed.
Tribunal shakeup
The official also disclosed that Salem Chalabi is no longer the director
of the Iraqi Special Tribunal. That post is now held by Amer Bakis.
Salem Chalabi was charged in connection with the killing earlier this year
of Haitham Fadhil, a Finance Ministry official, on the same day his uncle,
Ahmed Chalabi, was charged with counterfeiting.
Ahmed Chalabi had been a key U.S. ally leading up to the war in Iraq but
has recently fallen out of favor with Washington.
Salem Chalabi has charged that the Iraqi interim government "is attempting
to take control of the Iraqi Special Tribunal for political purposes" and
were using "false murder charges" as an excuse.
He also said the charges against him have been dropped.
He said the decision to remove him from the tribunal post was
"illegitimate" and illegal. He said the tribunal is being politicized and
the government has interfered with the tribunal for political purposes.
"My insistence on the independence of the tribunal was also proving
inconvenient to the secret policy of the interim government to grant
amnesty to or otherwise work out deals with senior Baathists inside and
outside Iraq," he said. "Several of these Baathists are concerned about
their possible indictment by the tribunal."
He said Bakri is from Allawi's political movement and "has stated to a
number of staff that he will be taking instructions directly from the
prime minister."
Chalabi said the interim government wants to "control the timing of the
judicial process in order to serve its own political interests" and said
he is worried that the defendants won't have proper legal protections.
"The caretaker government wants to begin the trials, and possibly even
conclude them, before the Iraqi elections scheduled for late January
because they believe this will help their popularity in the country," he
said.
In other developments:
- No Iraqi lawyers of record have contacted the tribunal about
representing former regime members. Attempts to obtain the services of
specific lawyers requested by the regime members have failed because the
lawyers have either refused to represent former regime officials or they
have left the country.
- The Baghdad Clock Tower, the site previously expected to house the
trial, has been deemed unsafe because it can't withstand mortar and
small-arms fire. The clock tower, a former museum, is the site where U.S.
officials announced and introduced the new interim Cabinet. A new court
building is being built at an undisclosed location.
- In addition to the current 35 U.S. advisers working with the tribunal,
another 40 are expected to arrive in the coming weeks from the United
States and other countries.
(source: CNN)
JAPAN----female gets death sentence
Ex-nurse gets death sentence for insurance murders
In Fukuoka, a former nurse was sentenced Friday to death for the murder,
along with 3 acquaintances, of the husbands of 2 of them in 1998 and 1999
for insurance money.
The Fukuoka District Court passed the death sentence on Junko Yoshida, 45,
ending the cases against the 4 women, who were all former classmates at a
nursing school.
(source: Kyodo News)
