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sonz
09-15-2006, 06:50 AM
BAGHDAD — The Shiite chief judge trying ousted president Saddam Hussein on charges of genocide against the Kurds asserted Thursday, September 14, Saddam was not a dictator.

"You were not a dictator," judge Abdullah al-Ameri told Saddam during a court hearing, reported Reuters.

"It is the people who surround a man who make him a dictator," added Ameri who has compared his approach to the trial as that of a referee seeking "fairness".

Visibly pleased, Saddam uttered a respectful "Thank you" and then regained his seat in the Baghdad courtroom.

The cordial exchange came after a Kurdish witness told the court how he had managed to meet Saddam to ask about the whereabouts of family members allegedly killed in the brutal "Anfal" military campaign of 1987-1988.

Seated in the dock, Saddam asked: "Why did you try to meet me when you knew I was a dictator?"

The latest exchange between Saddam and the judge is expected to further upset prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon who on Wednesday, September 13, demanded Ameri's resignation, saying he was too lenient toward the defendants.

Ameri, who has 25 years experience and was a judge under the ousted regime, dismissed the demand from Faroon.

Neutrality

Saddam and six others face capital charges of war crimes over the 1988 Anfal campaign. (Reuters)

Iraqi High Tribunal chief investigator and spokesman Raed Juhi sought during a news conference later to distance the court, set up by US occupying forces, from Amiri's comment.

"In the court, many statements are made," he told reporters after the trial was adjourned until next Monday.

"Anything not legal would not affect the issue and the court will continue with its neutrality. The judge is human after all," Juhi said.

Al-Amiri heads the five-judge panel that oversees the trial and will deliver the verdict. The panel will vote on guilt or innocence and a majority decision will be final.

Juhi asserted that under Iraqi law there were no legal grounds for the judge to step down as requested by the prosecutor.

Unlike many judges during Saddam's rule, Amiri was not a member of the ruling Baath Party, a fellow judge in the Saddam tribunal told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Saddam and six former commanders face capital charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign prosecutors say left 182,000 Iraqi Kurds dead or missing.

Part of the prosecution case is expected to rest on how far Saddam was directly responsible for the actions of his troops.

If found guilty the defendants will face execution by hanging.

Saddam has defended his policies of crushing Kurdish rebels fighting alongside Iran during the final years of the Iraq-Iran war.

The initial phase of the trial has featured a litany of often harrowing testimony from Kurdish survivors.

Saddam is also awaiting a verdict in a first, separate, trial for crimes against humanity over the deaths of 148 Shiite men.

http://www.islamonline.net/English/N...09/14/05.shtml
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lolwatever
09-15-2006, 06:51 AM
:lol: if he's not a dictator then what is he, a fairy? :D
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Zone Maker
09-15-2006, 10:41 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by lolwatever
:lol: if he's not a dictator then what is he, a fairy? :D
:sl:
Who knows?:?
:w:
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wilberhum
09-15-2006, 04:43 PM
I don't think he is on trial for being a dictator.
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