01/07/2004

Defiant Saddam tells court he is still president of Iraq

A defiant Saddam Hussein appeared in an Iraqi court today and refused to recognise the court's legitimacy, claiming he was still President of Iraq.

Among the seven preliminary indictments the former dictator is facing are war crimes and genocide charges relating to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the gas attack on Halabja in 1988, the Anfal campaign against the Kurds and the crushing of the 1991 uprising.

Images of Hussein's first appearance in public since his capture last December – relayed after the court appearance – showed him to be thin and haggard.

A full list of indictments may not be ready until the autumn - pushing full trial proceedings back many months.

Hussein was captured by US troops in the town of al Dawr, 15 miles south of his northern powerbase of Tikrit, on December 13. He surrendered to soldiers of the US 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, along with special forces, after they uncovered his 'spiderhole' in the garden of small house.

The tyrant had fled his Baghdad capital after the US army entered the city in April last year. His sons, Uday and Qusay, were shot dead by US forces in Mosul on July 22.

Hussein was handed over to the Iraqi authorities yesterday, along with 11 other "high-valued detainees". Among the other detainees are: former deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz; Ali Hasan al-Majid, otherwise known as 'Chemical Ali'; and Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former vice-president.

(gmcg)

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