Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 2, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press Friday july 2, 2004 a3 Saddam on trial Saddam scoffs at Bush charges deposed iraqi president defiant in court session by Hamza Kendawi b Baghdad ? Saddam Hussein an outspoken scoffed at charges of War crimes and mass killings yesterday Mak defiant Saddam ing a defiant first Public appearance Hussein makes since being hunted Down seven months a Point at his ago. The deposed dictator fixed the first court judge with a penetrating stare and appearance declared this is All theatre by Bush which took the place in one of dressed in a charcoal coloured suit his former jacket Saddam ? whose Day in court palaces in the was shown on to in the Arab world and outskirts of beyond ? looked thinner and better groomed than on dec. 13, the Day . Baghdad. Troops pulled him from a Hole near Cikrit. speaking in Strong tones As if he was unaccompanied by a lawyer he was still commander in chief Saddam 67,presented with seven preliminary offered a bit of advice charges that included gassing thousands the judicial system in Iraq always of kurd in 1988, the 1990 invasion of represents the will of the people he Kuwait the suppression of 1991 revolts said. You should not work according to by kurd and shiites the murders of the Law of the occupying forces these religious and political leaders and the Are invading mass displacement of kurd in the in the United states president george1980s. W. Bush watched a televised replay of Saddam was hand the hearing said White House cuffed when brought this is spokesman Scott Mcclellan who from a secret location to brushed off reporters questions about amp Victory one of his All theatre Saddam a remarks on Bush. Former palaces on Bagh by Bush i a sure Saddam Hussein will con dads Western outskirts. The Tine to say All sorts of things Mcclel after he arrived in an Lan said. What a important is that armoured bus the criminal Saddam Hussein and his regime Leader shackles were removed Are going to face Justice from the iraqi for the 26-minute hear Saddam people before an iraqi ing. Addresses at one Point Saddam tried to interrupt i am Saddam Hus court several times Only to be Cut off by therein the president of judge. Iraq he said he brushed off the charges suggest unprompted sitting in a chair facing the ing he had immunity As Iraq a president. Judge. When asked his name he repeat and he refused to sign a statement listed it in full Saddam Hussein Al Majid ing the accusations until the lawyer president of Are at times Saddam rather than the the former dictator whose mood judge seemed in command of the hear swung from nervousness and Exa Spera ing firmly signalling that he be allowed Tion to contempt and Defiance Evento speak. He occasionally lectured the anger appeared most agitated when Young magistrate whose identity was Kuwait was mentioned. Not released for Security purposes Mak the armed forces went to Kuwait. Ising his Points with emphatic hand Ges it possible to raise accusations against Tures. An official figure and this figure be treat he insisted that he be referred to ased apart from the official guarantees president of the Republic of Iraq and stipulated by the Constitution and the asked who the judge was and under what Law authority he was holding the hearing. How could Saddam be tried Over the judge said he represented the Kuwait that said it will reduce Iraq iraqi people and acted under coalition women to 10-Dinar prostitutes Saddam authority. Asked referring to himself in the third so you Are an iraqi representing the person. He defended Iraq a honour and coalition forces Saddam asked. Revived its historical rights Over those no the judge replied. I am an iraqi representing the iraqi judicial iraqis riveted divided by trial by Dogen Hannah Baghdad Iraq ? he ruled them with an Iron fist for 24 years brutally sup pressing the slightest dissent while Lead ing their nation into privation and ruinous wars. Yet the sight of a defiant Saddam Hus Sein declaring in court yesterday that he was still president of Iraq elicited a mix of reactions ? including sympathy ? from a Cross Section of iraqi society. The eagerly anticipated appearance the first Public viewing in the seven months since american forces pulled the bedraggled former dictator from a dirt Hole also raised questions among some iraqis about whether Saddam is getting railroaded. All of that though was upon reflection. At first As Saddam a image flick ered across television screens All iraqis could do was watch in a riveted state. Its Saddam. They re showing it now said Bassim Ahmed As the strongman a bearded face appeared on the Tele i Hope the vision in a Corner of deliver Ahmed a Barbershop in a predominantly Saddam shiite Muslim neigh to me boyhood. Barbers stopped personally cutting. Customers because left their chairs slip executing Ping closer to the television. Patrons Saddam in waiting on a Couch one Day is also eyed the footage of Saddam sitting in not enough court. later Barber Mohammed Ali 35, said he had wanted Saddam to be judged from the beginning since he committed All those terrible crimes against the iraqi yet seeing the former president ? the face of Iraq and a Man who had championed Arab causes ? in such Circum stances caught him off guard. Its difficult for the iraqis to see their Leader on trial even if he was other iraqis were unforgiving. I Hope they deliver Saddam to me personally because executing Saddam in one Day is not enough said Sadeq Karim 36, a labourer in Sadr City an impoverished shiite Muslim District of Baghdad that suffered under Saddam. Fingering a string of Blue prayer beads while watching his persecutor on television in a shop Selling satellite dishes Karim said Saddam a regime had arrested him and executed two of his Brothers. One brother was killed even after Karim paid the $30,000 that was to have spared the brother a life. Saddam jailed people and now he is in jail. He killed innocent people and now both his sons Are dead. He made a lot of women widows and now his two daughters Are widows said Karim also looking Forward to Justice is Iraq a kurdish minority since Many of the charges against Saddam Stem from atrocities committed against kurdish tribes villages and political parties. Sev eral kurd in Baghdad said Saddam should be executed for such crimes against humanity. He killed children and the elderly said Qais Mustapha 40, a shopkeeper. He said his family still has to recovered the bodies of three cousins the regime executed in 1983. ? Knight Ridder newspapers calling someone a dog is a severe insult in the Muslim world where the animals Are considered unclean. At that Point the judge admonished Saddam and said he would not tolerate such language. Afterwards 11 other defendants appeared one by one to hear the charges against them. Most appeared to be tired broken men shadows of their former roles As masters of Iraq. Best known among the 11 Are former Deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz Long Saddam a spokesman in the West Ali Hasan Al Majid known As chemical Ali and former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan. Aziz denied personal involve ment in any of the regimes crimes say ing i never killed anybody by any direct ? associated press Saddam accused of major crimes a glance of some of the major crimes allegedly committed during Saddam Hussein a Rule. July 16, 1979 shortly after Saddam seizes Power 15 top party leaders who allegedly conspired against him Are executed by firing squad. 1980 iraqi forces invade neighbouring Iran on sept. 22, sparking eight year War that leaves an Esti mated one million dead. Chemical attacks against Iran kill As Many As 5,000. 1983 government launches Campaign against members of kurdish Barzani tribe for helping Iran launch offensive in Northern Iraq. Estimated 8,000 killed Many buried in mass Graves. 1986-88 scorched Earth offensive known As anal that includes Chemi Cal attacks on kurd. Estimated 180,000 kurd killed Many buried in mass Graves in South. 1988 chemical weapon attack against kurdish town of Halaja kills an estimated 5,000 civilians on March 28. 1990 Saddam orders invasion of Kuwait on aug. 2. 1991 some 60,000 people Are believed killed when Saddam violently crushes rebellions by shiite muslims in the South and kurd in the North at close of persian Gulf War. 1992 draining of marshes in Southern Iraq driving population known As Marsh arabs from Homes and wiping out Way of life. Tens of thousands killed. ? the associated press human rights watch ;