Dictator to face Iraqi justice
Former dictator, Saddam Hussein, may be the first to appear before the recently established Iraqi tribunal, where he could be tried for crimes against humanity.
He could face the death penalty.
Sixty-six year old Saddam Hussein was caught on Saturday night by US troops in a hole underneath a remote farmhouse in Ad Dawr, near Tikrit.
Coalition troops received a tip off on Saddam’s whereabouts.
US authorities put out a $25 million bounty for his head.
Judge Dara Nuredin, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and the chairman of its legal committee, said if a case could be put against him “with all the necessary proofs”, the ousted leader may be the first to appear before this court.
Mr Nuredin dismissed reports that Saddam was now outside of Iraq, saying he remained on Iraqi soil “under tight guard.”
Amar al-Hakim, a leading member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shi’ite party, said Iraqis wanted Saddam to get what he deserves.
“I believe he will be sentenced to hundreds of death sentences at a fair trial because he’s responsible for all the massacres and crimes in Iraq.”
Tony Blair said Iraqis must determine the fate of their former dictator.
Saddam’s capture has lifted a “shadow” from the people of Iraq, Mr Blair said yesterday.
He said: “Where his rule meant terror and division and brutality, let his capture bring about unity, reconciliation and peace between all the people in Iraq.”
US President George Bush pledged that Hussein will “face the justice he denied to millions.”
