Paper details Saddam court hearing
...They said Saddam denied he had ordered the mass killing, but after the judge told him his former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti testified that he had ordered "revenge mass killings," Saddam said, "If they said that and they signed this testimony, then I am responsible." One of his defense lawyer told the paper Saddam doubted Ramadan and Tikriti had testified to that effect, "but he behaved as a president should and took responsibility"...
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Paper details Saddam court hearing
UPI
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LONDON, June 29 (UPI) -- An Arab paper reports toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein insisted on signing his testimony as the president of Iraq in his most recent court appearance.
The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi quoted sources close to the procedure as saying Saddam appeared in very good health and high morale as he was questioned on his role in the killing of hundreds of people from al-Dujail in the early 1980s after a failed assassination attempt on his life
They said Saddam denied he had ordered the mass killing, but after the judge told him his former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and his half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti testified that he had ordered "revenge mass killings," Saddam said, "If they said that and they signed this testimony, then I am responsible."
One of his defense lawyer told the paper Saddam doubted Ramadan and Tikriti had testified to that effect, "but he behaved as a president should and took responsibility."
The hearing was two weeks ago.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved
Senior aides refuse to testify against Saddam
www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news2005-06-2110416.
htm
Saad al-Awsi, Azzaman
June 21, 2005 - Senior Iraqi aides currently in U.S. custody have refused to testify against former leader Saddam Hussein when recently questioned by magistrates.
An Iraqi tribunal set up to try Saddam Hussein and his senior aides has released footage of them answering questions over past atrocities.
Saddam appeared in a film released recently wearing a dark suit and an open-neck shirt.
Information is hard to obtain regarding the conversations that took place during the court appearances but the films released so far show that Saddam and his aides try to strongly defend themselves.
Sources close the court told Azzaman that apart from Saddam Hussein, who looked robust and resilient, the others who were questioned by the court appeared restless and shaky.
Taha Yassin Ramadan, the second-ranking jailed former official after Saddam Hussein, denied accusations of mass killings and executions.
He did not blame Saddam Hussein for any of the accusations raised by the court.
He would simply say that all major decisions were jointly taken by the former Revolutionary Council, the country’s all powerful legislative and executive body at the time.
He said all the decisions regarding the execution of opponents were unanimously adopted by the council.
Ali Hassan al-Majid flatly denied charges that he used chemical weapons against Kurdish towns and villages, namely Halabja where 5,000 people were killed.
Asked about Halabja, Majid said he had no authority to order chemical weapon attacks as the use of such weapons was the prerogative of the commander-in-chief, the defense minister or the army chief of staff.
He said he ordered pilots to drop sacks of flour on Kurdish cities of Dahouk and Sulaimaniya in a bid to scare off Kurdish rebels by making them believe the white powder was chemical agents.
When entering the court Majid was reported to be reciting verses from the holy Koran and gave the impression that he had turned into a pious man.
But on leaving the court, Majid began cursing his jailers, saying: "We are doomed anyway."
Mahmoud Dhiyab Ahmad, who was the interior minister before the fall of Baghdad to U.S. troops, was shivering and shaking before the court.
Ahmad did not have a military rank as he was a civil engineer and kept saying that he had never hurt anyone in his life.
He asked the court to put an end to his ordeal by having him executed immediately in the court room.
Saddam’s powerful personal secretary, Abed Hmoud also appeared before the court for 30 minutes. He said he was innocent of charges of mass murder.
Saddam’s half-brother Sabawai Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former security chief, skirted the court’s questions and began cursing the Syrians, who he said helped the Americans to arrest him.
While the court tried to have him answer the charges, Hassan went own telling the story of how he was arrested.
He said the Syrian authorities asked to meet him for crucial talks regarding the Iraqi resistance.
On arriving at the scene close to the Iraqi border with Syria, he was arrested and handed over to U.S. troops.
Taher Tawfiq, another senior member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party, told the court that he was clean and upright and had never exploited his post at the expense of the Iraqi people.
The sources said the aides who appeared before the court would use the title of "Mr. President" when referring to Saddam Hussein.
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:: Article nr. 13191 sent on 29-jun-2005 17:33 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=13191
Link: www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20050629-08322800-bc-iraq-s
addam-trial.xml
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