Baghdad, 30 Sept. (AKI) - A senior source at the international tribunal handling the trial of Saddam Hussein says the former dictator has admitted having carried out mass killings in the city of Dujail and in other locations. "These confessions made by Saddam during interrogation sessions have been recorded in both video and audio form, and corroborate the testimony of some of the top figures in his regime who accuse him," the source told Adnkronos International (AKI), speaking on the condition of anonymity. "During the trial [due to start 19 October] the tribunal will confront him with these testimonies," the tribunal official declared. | Sammy always did like to brag |
Saddam Hussein and eight of his aides will be brought to trial on charges of killing 143 Shiites - including the elderly, women and children - in Dujail village in north Baghdad in 1982. The massacre followed a failed assassination attempt against him.
The tribunal official dismissed statements to the media by two of Saddam's lawyers, Khalil al-Dulaymi and Khamis al-Ubaydi, in which they said they had not read the documents backing up the charges against the former leader and had not been informed of the trial starting date.
He told AKI the two men had been informed according to procedure, but were trying to invent an excuse to not follow the proceedings, noting that "the two lawyers have little experience in similar questions of extreme importance at both local and international level". The source also said that "the trial of Saddam will be public and will be transmitted live on television". | Hopefully, so will the execution |
Earlier this month, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani told state television that Saddam had confessed to some crimes committed under his regime. Talabani said he had been told by a judge that "he was able to extract confessions from Saddam's mouth" about crimes "such as executions" personally ordered by the dictator. The Iraqi Special Tribunal has decided to try Saddam separately for different offences, rather than bring them all together in one trial. The Dujail case is the only one referred to trial so far. He could get the death penalty for that alone if found guilty. |