War crimes trials will begin next week for some of Saddam Hussein’s most senior deputies, Iraq’s Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi, said on Tuesday.
He did not say who would be first in the dock and his announcement, made live on television, appeared to take the Iraqi Justice Ministry and the United States embassy by surprise.
”I can now tell you clearly and precisely that, God willing, next week the trials of the symbols of the former regime will start one by one so that justice can take its path in Iraq,” he told a meeting of the 100-strong Iraqi National Council, an interim, unelected Parliament.
The announcement appeared to be an attempt by the government to present concrete achievements before January’s general election. Later on Wednesday Allawi is to announce his candidature for the election and the list of politicians who will run alongside him.
He admitted that the preparations for the trials were ”very complex” and said the lawyers and judges involved had been targeted for attack by insurgents.
The defendants thought most likely to appear first include Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali for his suspected involvement in the gassing of the Kurds in 1988, and Watban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, one of the dictator’s half-brothers and a former interior minister.
Saddam, who, it was confirmed on Tuesday, is being held at a US base in western Baghdad called Camp Cropper, is not expected to face trial for some months or years. The US authorities have always refused to confirm rumours that he was being held at the camp, but asked at a press conference about Saddam’s health, the human rights minister, Bakhtiar Amin, said he had been fine the last time he saw him at the camp in September.
Although Saddam and 11 other top-ranking officials appeared in court in July to hear charges read against them, many officials had hinted that the cases were a long way from being ready for trial. The process has been dogged by delays and controversy. The head of the special tribunal, Salem Chalabi, who was to run the case, was removed in the summer and has not been replaced. He complained that the trial process had become politicised and said the evidence was still not ready.
Although capital punishment was suspended by the US military authorities after the war, it was reintroduced by the interim Iraqi government this summer and so the defendants will face the death penalty.
The procedure for the rest of the trial remains unexplained. When the defendants appeared in court in July only one judge sat and they were allowed no legal representation. Since then they have hired defence counsel but few of the prisoners have been allowed to meet their lawyers.
One element of the evidence against the men is likely to involve the dozens of mass graves uncovered across Iraq. But because of the poor security situation only one grave site has been properly excavated to prepare evidence for court.
Allawi said on Tuesday a new grave had been found, containing 500 bodies, near Sulaimaniya, in the northern Kurdish region. Officials at the site have been more cautious and said they have uncovered only two skeletons so far.
Political hopefuls must file their final lists of candidates today for the January 30 elections. Already 70 different parties have put forward names, most in alliance with each other, leaving voters to choose between nine main candidate lists. The Iraqi Islamic party, a Sunni group which had promised to boycott the vote, put in 275 names, suggesting it will now take part.
”We have talked many times about it. Let’s have the elections,” Abdul Mohsin-Hamid, the party’s chairperson, told the Iraqi National Council on Tuesday. But he added a stark warning: ”The risk will be a very big split in the unity of Iraq.”
Many are concerned that the Sunni community, from which the insurgency has emerged, will be under-represented in the vote, which they fear could push Iraq towards a civil war. Some Sunni hardliners, including the influential Muslim Clerics Association, have refused to present candidates.
In the dock
Some of the defendants being held alongside Saddam Hussein who may be brought to trial in Baghdad next week
Ali Hasan al-Majid al-Tikriti
One of Saddam’s first cousins and a senior army general known as Chemical Ali because of accusations he gave the order to gas 5 000 Kurds in the village of Halabja in 1998. He was captured by US forces on August 21 last year. Position on US most wanted list: 5
Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan
Saddam’s half-brother was turned over to the US military on April 13 last year. He served as interior minister until 1995, but was removed by Saddam. He remained a presidential adviser. Position on list: 37
Tariq Aziz
Saddam’s deputy, and the international face of Iraq. As the most senior Christian in the administration he was not part of Saddam’s inner circle, mostly made up of members of the al-Tikriti clan. He is wanted for war crimes against Iran, Kuwait and Iraq, and was reported to have given himself up on April 24 2003. Position on list: 25
Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti
The presidential secretary, he oversaw Saddam’s personal security force and acted as his bodyguard. He was detained on June 16 last year. Position on list: 4
Sultan Hashim Ahmad
Saddam’s former defence minister who signed the truce in 1991, ending the first Gulf war. He surrendered to David Petraeus, the US general in charge of forces in northern Iraq, on September 19 last year. Position on list: 27
Taha Yassin Ramadan
The Iraqi vice-president and revolutionary command council member was detained on August 20 last year. Position on list: 20
Aziz Salih al-Numan
Numan was army commander during the 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait, and is said to have overseen the execution of those who took part in the Shia uprising after the 1991 war. He was regional chairperson of the Ba’ath party, and was arrested near Baghdad on May 22 2003. Position on list: 8
Muhammad Hamza Zubaydi
He served as a regional commander and was a former Iraqi deputy prime minister. According to the Iraqi National Congress he was captured and handed to the US on April 20 2003. Position on list: 9
Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti
US special forces captured the second of Saddam’s half-brothers on April 16 2003. Barzan ran Iraq’s intelligence service from 1979 to1983, and was ambassador to the UN from 1988 to 1997. Position on list: 38
Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti
A secretary of the Republican Guard, and Saddam’s son-in-law, he returned from Syria and surrendered on May 17 last year. Position on list: 1 – Guardian Unlimited Â