- On December 16, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld said that the CIA was now interrogating
Saddam Hussein. Their expertise is "interrogating" prisoners is
well-known. Now some people, also in the USA, are wondering if Saddam is treated
fairly and according to the Geneva Conventions. Donald Rumsfeld said that
he is well treated but releasing the humiliating pictures of him being examined
by an US military doctor and letting Iraqi officials interrogating him look
like banned acts of "parading" and humiliating him.
- After Saddam Hussein capture, President Bush was congratulated by his parents!!
- On December 16, Saddam Hussein's daughter, Raghad Saddam Hussein, said that
her father appeared to be sedated in the television images released by the
Coalition after his capture. Raghad and her sister Rana are in exile in Amman,
Jordan since July 2003.
- On December 19, 2003, we learned that two junior intelligence soldiers,
Lt Angela Santana and Cpl. Harold Engstrom, found Saddam Hussein's hiding
place. They were given four names by Major Stan Murphy and on this base created
Saddam Hussein's "Who is Who" chart. When they linked the man identified
as "The Source", a middle aged man from around Tikrit, to the chart
they thought that he should know where Saddam was hiding. He was located and
arrested in Baghdad. His interrogation revealed that Saddam Hussein was hiding
in a poor farm near Dawr and 600 soldiers were sent to investigate. They found
HIM.
- On December 21, 2003, Saddam Hussein's daughter, Rahad Hussein, sent a 10-page
letter to her father from her home in Jordan. In it she says that she will
organise "a great defence team" for his war crime trial.
- On December 22, 2003, we were told that the betrayal of Saddam Hussein by
an informer has led to many murders in Tikrit. The suspicion fell on one of
Saddam Hussein's bodyguards and a close confident, Colonel Mohammed Muslit.
Muslit has vanished but his brother, his sister in law and their four children
have been killed although the US Army has kept the name of the informant secret.
Two other aides of Saddam Hussein, those who brought food to him, have been
found dead near the farmhouse where he was captured. They were refused a proper
Muslim funeral.
- On December 26, 2003, we were told that most Iraqis consider Saddam Hussein
a war criminal and want him executed but only after a fair trial before Iraqi
judges. Iraqis believe that arresting Saddam was an important event but they
also said that security and fuel are more important problems.
- On January 2, 2004, the Americans, the British and the new Iraqis are thinking
how to try Saddam Hussein. He is responsible for the death of perhaps 300,000
Iraqis, the gassing of Kurdish villages and the slaughter of Shiites who revolted
against his regime with the encouragement of the USA who promised them help.
It would seem normal that he will be executed but he must not appear to be
a martyr to the Iraqis. The Iraqi Governing Council wants him to be tried
by Iraqi judges but this will be seen as an act of revenge. An international
court should try him but the USA has always opposed these courts.
- On January 9, 2004, the Pentagon declared that Saddam Husseim had now been
classified as a prisoner of war giving him the legal status foreseen in the
Geneva Conventions. The Red Cross will be able to visit him. The CIA and the
FBI are still interrogating him but we are told that he is not collaborating
much. The Red Cross said that the Geneva Conventions did not preclude a war
crimes prosecution.
- On January 23, 2004, the US military authorities in Iraq said that they
might fill the hole and destroy the hut where Saddam Hussein was found in
order to prevent it becoming a tourist attraction.
- On February 16, 2004, The Guardian said that Saddam Hussein will not stand
trial for at least two years. The Iraqi special tribunal for crimes against
humanity will start hearing case in the autumn 2004 and the first to be tried
will be the high-ranking Ba'ath party officials. Training judges and building
safe jails are the reasons for the delay.
- Two Red Cross representatives, one a doctor, visited Saddam Hussein visited
Saddam Hussein on February 21, 2004 to check on his condition. Nothing was
revealed afterwards.
- On March 27, 2004, it was revealed that Jacques Vergès, a French
lawyer who defended many despots, Nazis and terrorists has been asked to defend
Saddam Hussein by his family. Maitre Vergès accepted.
- Saddam Hussein spent his 67th birthday alone in a cell on April 28, 2004.
It is not known where the Americans keep him prisoner. Red Cross officials
visited him on April 27.
- On May 11, 2004, the American authorities said that they will hand over
Saddam Hussein to the Iraqis before the transfer of power on June 30 as well
as about 100 other high-level prisoners such as the deputy prime minister
Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan al-Majid better known as "Chemical Ali"
for gazing the Kurds a few years ago. Their trials should begin in 2005 with
American help, but Saddam Hussein will not be the first. The accused will
face the death penalty. The head prosecutor Mr Chalabi is a family member
of Mr Chalabi, the Pentagon's protégé, and also a former exile
in London where he worked as a lawyer specialising in capital market. This
kind of "family business" is the democracy brought to Iraq by the
Americans.
- On June 13, 2004, the International Red Cross gave a kind of ultimatum to
President Bush. According to them, Saddam Hussein must either be charged by
June 30, or released according to international law (the Geneva conventions).
The US defined Saddam Hussein a prisoner of war and, as a result at the end
of the occupation Saddam Hussein, as all Prisoners of war, must be released
unless there are penal charges against him.
- In Saddam Hussein's first letter published on June 23, 2004, the former
dictator says that he is in high spirit and doing well. In it he also asks
his family to "Say hello to everyone". Nine out of the letter's
14 lines have been blacken out by the American censors leaving only 17 Arabic
words in the letter sent through the Red Cross to his eldest daughter, Raghed
Hussein. Saddam has a team of 20 lawyers to defend him.
- On June 29, 2004, Iraq's new interim government said that it will take "legal
custody" of former dictator Saddam Hussein on Wednesday and file charges
against him the next day.
- On July 25, 2004, the Iraqi Human Rights minister, Bakhtiar Amin, visited
Saddam Hussein in prison where he is waiting trial. However he did not speak
to him. He reported that the former president who is held in total solitary
confinement by his American jailers is passing the time writing poetry (one
is about Bush but the text is not known as the minister had no time to read
it), gardening (a few bushes), reading the Qur'an, and eating American muffins
and cookies. His cell is small -4 by 3 metres- but clean and comfortable.
Saddam Hussein seems to be in good health although he appeared to be demoralised
and dejected. He has no access to television or newspapers but he has 145
books to read, a present of the Red Cross.
- At the end of September 2004 it became clear that worsening security, legal
complexities and the lack of an Iraqi lawyer willing to represent Saddam Hussein
make it impossible for the ousted dictator and 11 others to stand trial soon.
The US dismissed a statement by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi that they
could start as early as October.
- On October 13, 2004 we were told that investigators have conducted their
first scientific exhumation of Iraq's 'killing fields', discovering hundreds
of bodies which they hope will help convict Saddam Hussein of crimes against
humanity. Nine trenches in a dry, dusty riverbed at the Hatra site in northern
Iraq contain at least 300 bodies, and possibly thousands, including unborn
babies and toddlers still clutching toys. The victims are believed to be minority
Kurds killed during 1987 and 1988. One trench contains only women and children,
apparently killed by small arms. Another contains only men, apparently killed
by automatic gunfire. The women and children had been taken from their villages
with their belongings, including pots and pans, shot - often in the back of
the head, and then bulldozed into the trench. Some of the mothers died while
still holding their children. One young boy had a ball in his tiny arms. The
youngest foetus was 18 to 20 foetal weeks. Tiny bones, femurs, thighbones
the size of a matchstick. International organisations estimate that more than
300,000 people died under Saddam's 24-year rule and Iraq's Human Rights Ministry
has identified 40 possible mass graves throughout the country.
- On December 5, 2004, Curtis Doebbler, the only American lawyer chosen by
Saddam Hussein's daughter to be part of her father's 23 lawyer defending team,
said that he received threatening phone calls, letters and emails from angry
Americans. Doebbler is an international human right lawyer. He justified accepted
the job by saying that he believes "that every one deserves a legal defence".
- December 13, 2004, was the first anniversary of the capture of Saddam Hussein
in a hole in the ground near his hometown of Tikrit. Apparently he passes
the time in his secret jail gardening and writing poor poetry. He also had
a hernia operation. Initially it was thought that he would be tried within
six months. Now, it looks like the earliest date is 2006! Evidences against
him are still collected but the main problem is that no Iraqi is willing to
judge or prosecute him. With reason, because the poor idiot who would accept
was also signing his or her death warrant.
- On December 19, 2004, Saddam Hussein launched a message from his prison
cell asking the Iraqis to remain united against the US occupation. His Iraqi
lawyer, Khalil al-Duleimi, who met Saddam three days before, transmitted the
message.
- Mr Talabani, a Kurd, said on April 17, 2005, that he would not sign a death
warrant for captured former leader Saddam Hussein. If Saddam Hussein is to
go to the gallows, as many of his erstwhile foes insist he must, his death
sentence will have to be endorsed by the new Iraqi presidency.
- The US military said on May 20, 2005, that it is investigating "aggressively"
after pictures appeared in the Sun British paper showing Saddam Hussein half
naked, in a pair of white underpants. Other pictures showed Saddam Hussein
washing his trousers, shuffling around and sleeping. The US said the photos
appeared to breach Geneva Convention rules on the humane treatment of prisoners
of war. The conventions say countries must protect prisoners of war in their
custody from "public curiosity".
- On May 21, 2005, the Sun -a British newspaper- published new pictures of
Saddam Hussein - and two of his top lieutenants - a day after it showed the
ex-Iraqi leader in his underpants. The newspaper said it was proud to run
the photos it described as "iconic images", despite claims they
breached Saddam's human rights.
- Iraq's new president, Jalal Talabani, said on May 31, 2005, that he hoped
the country's toppled dictator Saddam Hussein could go on trial within the
next two months. Mr Talabani said: "The Iraqi government is now doing
its best to prepare the ground for a court ... to decide ... Saddam Hussein's
future."
- On June 4, 2005 the judge due to try Saddam Hussein said the former dictator's
morale has plummeted due to the gravity of the war crimes charges he faces.
- Saddam Hussein could face up to 500 charges, but prosecutors will focus
on 12 well-documented cases, including the gassing of thousands of Kurds in
northern Iraq, an official said Sunday June 5, 2005 as the government pressed
ahead with efforts to start the trial of the ousted dictator within two months.
- On June 5, 2005, the Iraqi government decided to reduce the number of charges
against their ex-president, Saddam Hussein, to twelve in order to speed up
his trial. They hope that it will begin within two months.
- A lawyer for Saddam Hussein said Monday July 18, 2005, that Iraq's insurgency
has made Baghdad far too dangerous a venue for the former leader's trial,
and that the proceeding should be moved to another country. He said Saddam's
defence team has contacted the Swedish government about the possibility of
holding such a trial in Sweden. But in Stockholm on Monday, Swedish Justice
Ministry spokesman Alexander Valentin said that he was not aware of any official
request.
- On December 15, 2003, the US media was still beating their chest about the
big American victory in capturing a defeated Saddam Hussein. However the main
preoccupation now is about his future trial:
. Who will try him?
. When?
. On what charges?
. And facing what penalty if convicted?
- President Bush says that the USA will work with Iraq to decide the answers
to these questions. But the Iraqi Governing Council has already said that
he will be tried by Iraqi judges only and that he faces the death penalty.
On the other hand, the UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, said that he should
not be tried before any court that could sentence him to death. Iran and Kuwait
want Saddam Hussein tried for war crimes against their countries. It will
be difficult to satisfy everybody. The Red Cross said that Saddam Hussein
should be treated as foreseen by the Geneva Convention. Donald Rumsfeld said
that he will, but added that he is could loose this status if it was shown
that he organised the attacks against coalition troops after his regime was
defeated. This is a no-win situation.
- New Iraqi President Jalal Talabani claimed on September 7, 2005, his predecessor,
Saddam Hussein, has confessed to killings and other crimes committed during
his regime, including the massacre of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.
Mr Talabani said he had been given the information by an investigating judge.
However, Abdel Haq Alani, a legal consultant to the Hussein family, said Saddam
had not mentioned any confession when he met his Iraqi lawyer this week. Saddam
Hussein's chief lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, denied claims the ex-Iraqi president
confessed to ordering mass killings and executions during his regime.
Saddam Hussein's sons and family members
- On April 13, 2003, we were told that Saddam's half brother, al-Tikriti was
in custody after being arrested by the Kurdish forces near Mosul, on his way
to Syria. Mr Tikriti, a former Interior minister, was number 51 on the US
most-wanted list of Iraqi leader. He is also in American hands; Donald accuses
him of the worst crimes, of course, as well as being a participant in the
Iraqi nuclear programme.
- Some of the leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime are being arrested. On April
17, 2003, it was the turn of his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti,
a former head of the secret police, Saddam's banker, and as such, he must
know a lot. The US Special Forces captured him in Baghdad.
- On May 6, 2003, Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusay Hussein, is believed
to have taken $1bn from the Iraqi Central Bank only hours before the Americans
started bombing at 4.00am on March 18, 2003. Qusay, accompanied by his father
personal assistant, Amid al-Hamid Mahmood, had a letter from his father authorising
him to take the money. It is not known where the money is now although the
American troops have found a lot of hidden money in Baghdad.
- In July 2003, the Americans are also offering $15m for each of his sons,
Uday and Qusay.
- On July 22, 2003, US soldiers killed Saddam Hussein's two sons, Uday and
Qusay. An Iraqi informed the Americans that they were hiding in the house
of a distant relative -thought to be the informer and taken in preventive
custody by the US. Hundred of soldiers were involved. First they asked for
their surrender but, receiving no answer, they started shooting. The battle
lasted from three to six hours, light guns, heavy guns, tanks and even helicopters
were used to shoot missiles. According to General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander
of ground forces in Iraq, Uday, Qusay and his 14 year-old son of Qusay, Mustafa,
and a bodyguards were killed. The informant could receive up to $30m for denouncing
them. We should also ask ourselves why they were not taken alive. It looks
like the US soldiers chose the easy solution that can only be described as
murder. Or perhaps, they did not want them alive and tried, as they know too
much, possibly something that Washington prefers to keep secret. On July 31,
the US State department said that the "Informant" believed to be
the owner of the building, Sheik Nawaf al-Zaidan, where the murder happened
will receive the $30m promised for denouncing Qusay and Uday. He has better
to keep hiding for the remaining of his life.
- On August 1, 2003, Saddam Hussein's daughters, Raghad and Rana, who have
found asylum in Jordan with their nine children, said that his closest aides
betrayed their father at the last moment of the war. They gave no detail about
where their father could be now.
- On August 2, 2003, Uday and Qusay, Saddam Hussein's sons were buried in
the village of Awja where their father was born near Tikrit. About 150 people,
friends and relatives, attended the simple ceremony. American soldiers stood
guard at the cemetery gate and let only 150 people in it. The coffins were
draped in the Iraqi flag. Qusay's 14 year old sold was buried there too along
his father and uncle.
- On August 21, 2003, we were told that Ali Hassan al-Majid, a first cousin
of Saddam Hussein, better known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in
gassing, starving and executing 100,000 Kurds, was being held by the Americans
after his arrest a few days ago. By now 42 of the 55 most wanted Iraqis have
been captured or killed. He personally approved the gassing of the village
of Halabja in 1988 where 5,000 people died in one day. He is also responsible
for the killing of many Shia who rebelled against the regime in 1991 in south
Iraq and of Marsh Arabs.
- On December 16, 2004, we were told that General Ali Hassan al-Majid, a Saddam
Hussein's cousin also known as "Chemical Ali" would be the first
senior former ex-Iraqi leader to appear in court next week. He is known for
being responsible for the death of 5,000 Iraqi Kurds killed by poisonous gas
in Halabja in 1988; he is also accused for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and
the suppression of the Shiite upraising in southern Iraq. The hearing next
week will be the first stage of his trial, the investigating phase. The Iraqi
authorities said that he has met his lawyers and they will be in court with
him.
- On December 18, 2004, the ex-general and cousin of Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan
Majidappeared before judge Raad al-Juhyi in Baghdad for a preliminary investigation.
- On Sunday February 27, 2005, president Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Sabawi
Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikrit, suspected of helping to organise the insurgency,
has been arrested. He was Saddam's advisor and intelligence chief, a key post
in the old regime, Hassan was number 36 on the US list of 55 most wanted former
regime officials in Iraq. Syrian authorities captured Saddam Hussein's half
brother in Syria and handed him over to Iraq in an apparent good will gesture.
Al-Hassan was captured and handed over to Iraqi authorities along with 29
other members of Saddam's collapsed Baath Party.
- The Iraqi tribunal investigating members of Saddam Hussein's regime released
a videotape Sunday June 19, 2005, showing testimony by the ousted dictator's
cousin, nicknamed ``Chemical Ali'' for his alleged role in the 1988 chemical
attack that killed thousands of Kurds. Ali Hassan al-Majid and seven other
former officials were shown testifying before an investigating judge and signing
statements. On June 15, the tribunal released a video showing the questioning
of three former senior officials -including Saddam's half brother Sabawi Ibrahim.
Another defendant shown on the tape was Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, a presidential
secretary and cousin of Saddam's. The tribunal said he too was charged with
crimes against religious parties.
- Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as ``Chemical Ali,'' two of Saddam's half-brothers
and Iraq's former vice president were brought before a judge for questioning
about the killing of Shiites, Kurds and other political opponents, on Monday
July 25, 2005. Judge Munir Haddad questioned the former officials about the
killing of thousands of followers of rival political parties, the killing
and displacing of Shiite Kurds and people from the southern marshes and acts
of ethnic cleansing. A tape showed the questioning of former Vice President
Taha Yassin Ramadan, former Defence Minister Ali Hassan al-Majid, and Saddam's
half brothers Barzan and Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan. Barzan headed the intelligence
department. The former vice president was in charge of implementing the UN
oil-for-food program in Iraq and the work of weapons inspectors.
Saddam Hussein's close associates
- The Iraqi chief scientist, General Amer Hammoudi al-Said who surrendered
around April 10, 2003.
- US military officials said on April 18, 2003, that they had arrested a senior
Ba'ath party leader who is number 24 on the 55 most wanted Iraqi list. Samir
Abdulariz al-Najm was first taken by Kurdish forces and then handed over to
the Americans. He was a regional leader of the Ba'ath party militia and a
regional command chairman of the Ba'ath party for east Baghdad. The Americans
now hold four of the most wanted Iraqi leaders.
- On April 24, 2003, Saddam Hussein's deputy, Tariq Aziz, a former Iraqi foreign
minister surrendered to the American forces in Baghdad. He is not thought
to know a lot about the Iraqi weapon of mass destruction or Saddam Hussein's
hiding place because he was not a member of the Tikriti clan and because he
is a Christian, not a Muslim. Tariq Aziz is the 12th Iraqi captured out of
a total of 55 most wanted men. He was number 43 on that list.
- On April 25, 2003, the US troops captured the head of the Iraqi Intelligence
Service, Farouk Hijazi. In total there are 12 of the 55 most-wanted men in
custody.
- On May 3, 2003, it was clear that Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy Prime
Minister, is not talking or as Bush says, "Tariq Aziz still does not
know how to tell the truth".
- On April 27, 2003, the US troops arrested the Iraqi general Hossam Mohammed
Amin, formerly head of the Iraqi's national monitoring directorate and responsible
to negotiate with the UN weapons inspectors. He was number 49 on the list
of the 55 most wanted Iraqi.
- On April 29, 2003, two more "most-wanted" Iraqi surrendered to
the US troops. There are the former oil minister, Amer Mohammed Rashid, and
the governor of Basra, Wahid Hamed Tawfiq al-Tikriti, a member of Saddam Hussein's
tribe and part of the inner circle. General Rashid is a missile expert and
is married to Dr Rihad Taha. They are respectively number 47 and number 44
on the list.
- On May 2, 2003, the US troops captured two more most-wanted Iraqi:
. Abdul Tawab Mullah Hwaish, a former minister of military industrialisation,
number 16 on the wanted-list. He was in charge of Iraq's secret weapons programmes
in the 1980s and possibly also after the Gulf War.
. Taha Mohieddin Ma'rouf, one of Saddam Hussein's vice president, number 42
on the list. He was not part of Saddam Hussein's inner circle. Until now 17
of the most-wanted 55 Iraqi are in custody.
- On May 5, 2003, the US troops were detaining Huda Ammash, the woman known
as "Mrs. Anthrax" for her alleged role in running Iraq's biological
weapon programme. She handed herself up. She is the only woman of the American
list of the 55 most wanted persons in Iraq. She is ranked 53. She is a US-trained
microbiologist.
- Dr Rihab Taha, the Iraqi British-trained microbiologist known as "Dr
Germ" and "Doctor Death" because of her involvement in Iraq's
biological weapons programme. She surrendered to the US troops on May 12,
2003. She was not on the top priority list of the most wanted 55 Iraqi but
she is on a second list of 200 people.
- The former chief of staff of the Iraqi military forces, Ibrahim Ahmed Mohammed,
was also captured on May 12, 2003. He is number 11 on the list of the 55 most
wanted Iraqi, about 24 of them are now in custody.
- Kamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti, number 10 on the list of the 55
most wanted people in Iraq, surrendered to the US forces on May 17, 2003.
He was the secretary of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard.
- On June 18, 2003, the US troops captured Saddam Hussein's former secretary,
Abed Hamid Mahmoud. He is number 4 on the list of the most wanted Iraqi.
- On June 26, 2003, Mohammed Said al-Sharaf, the former Iraqi Information
minister, spoke on Abu Dhabi television. He surrendered to the US troops who
let him go after being interrogated. He was also known as Comical-Ali for
saying until the last moment of the war that the Iraqis were winning the war,
even when the Americans had taken Baghdad International airport and when they
entered Baghdad.
- On July 28, 2003, the US troops arrested Adnan Abdullah Abid al-Musslit
said to be a senior bodyguard of Saddam as well as three other people who
are now interrogated. Among the three were Daher Ziana, former head of security
in Tikrit, and Rafa Idham Ibrahim al-Hassan, a leader of the Fedayeen militia.
- On September 19, 2003, General Sultan Hashim Ahmed gave himself up to the
Americans in Mosul, Iraq. He was Saddam Hussein's Defence minister. Of the
55 most-wanted Iraqis, 38 have been captured, 3 were killed and 14 are still
free. He negotiated his surrender and was told that he would be well treated
and that he will not face prosecution.
- On November 26, 2003, the US soldiers arrested the wife and daughter of
Saddam Hussein's deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. Ibrahim is number 6 on the
US list of the most wanted Iraqis and he is believed to be responsible for
some of the recent attacks on US forces. The Americans believe that by arresting
his wife and daughter he could surrender.
- On December 3, 2003, US soldiers in Iraq captured a former Iraqi general,
Brig. Gen. Daham al-Mahemdi in Falluja. He is believed to have been in indirect
contact recently with Saddam Hussein and in directing attack on US soldiers
in and near Falluja.
- On December 26, 2003, only 13 of the 55 Iraqis most wanted by the Americans
were still free.
- On December 27, 2003, the US military authorities put a ransom of $1m on
each of the 12 most-wanted Iraqis left free on the initial list of 55. This
comes in addition of the $10m ransom put on Izzat Ibrahim.
- On January 14, 2004 the US soldiers captured the former Ba'ath party leader
Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammed near Ramadi. He was number 54 on the American list
of the most wanted Iraqi. Four nephews of the remaining most wanted Iraqi,
Former vice president Uzzat Ibrahim were also arrested in Samara.
- Muhammad-Zimam Abd al-Razzaq al-Sadun, the former Ba'ath party chairman
and commander of the militia in Baghdad, is said to have been captured on
February 15, 2004. This brings to 44 the number of the 55 "Most wanted"
Iraqis captured or killed.
- On January 14, 2004 the US soldiers captured the former Ba'ath party leader
Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammed near Ramadi. He was number 54 on the American list
of the most wanted Iraqi. Four nephews of the remaining most wanted Iraqi,
Former vice president Uzzat Ibrahim were also arrested in Samara.
- The twelve former senior Iraqi generals and ministers of the Saddam Hussein
regime legally transferred to the Interim Government will also appear on July
1 before Iraq's special tribunal to hear the charges against them. They are
(with between brackets their ranking on the US list of most wanted Iraqis):
. Abd Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti Saddam Hussein's personal secretary, national
security adviser and chief body guard. (4)
. Ali Hassan al-Majid or chemical Ali, killed Kurds and Shia. Best known for
gazing a Kurdish town killing more than 5,000 people. (5)
. Aziz Saleh al-Numam, Ba'ath party regional commander. (8)
. Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein half brother, presidential
adviser. (38)
. Kamal Mustafa Abdullah Sultan al-Tikriti, secretary Republican Guards. (10)
. Muhammed Hanza al-Zubaidi, former deputy prime minister. (9)
. Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Douri, senior Baa'athist. (42)
. Sultan Hashim Ahmad Al-Jabburi al-Tai, defence minister. (27)
. Taha Yasseen Ramadhan al-Jizrawi, vice president. (20)
. Tariq Aziz, deputy prime minister and foreign minister. (25)
. Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, adviser and half brother of Saddam
Hussein. (37)
They were arraigned in a 5 minutes appearance in court -judge Salem Chalabi-
on June 30. They will be charged at another court session on July 1.
- On September 6, 2004, Iraqi and United States forces arrested a man believed
to be the most wanted Saddam Hussein aide still on the run. Izzat Ibrahim
al Douri, who was sixth on a US list of the 55 most wanted members of Saddam's
administration and had a US$10 million ($15.6 million) price on his head,
is believed to have been captured in Tikrit.
- US and Iraqi officials differed over legal issue linked to the release of
Rihab Rashid Taha, the female scientist known as "Dr Germ" for helping
Iraq makes weapons out of anthrax. The US Embassy insisted no such decision
had been made. Allawi confirmed no release of detainees was imminent.
- Saddam Hussein's former deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz is alive, the US
military said on October 9, 2004, denying television reports that he had died
in custody. Aziz is the only Christian member of Saddam's cabinet.
- On December 14, 2004, we were told by Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad
Allawi, that the trial of some of the most senior Saddam Hussein's aides will
begin next week. It probably will not be the formal trials for war crimes
and crimes against humanity, but an investigating hearing for two of the eleven
accused only.
- Sultan Hashim Ahmad, a former defence minister appeared before the judge
on December 18, 2004.
- A videotape Sunday June 19, 2005, showed former vice president Taha Yassin
Ramadan, and said he also was charged with crimes against the Faili Kurds.
Former Interior Minister Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmed was also shown. The tribunal
said he too faced a blanket charge of crimes against religious parties. Among
the last four men shown in the tape, Sadoun Shakir al-Obeidi faced charges
of taking part in a massacre in Dujail, a town 50 miles north of Baghdad,
where at least 50 people were shot dead in 1982 in retaliation for a failed
attempt to assassinate Saddam. Three other men were all charged with participating
in the massacre of Shiites in the south after the 1991 Gulf War. They were
identified as Maad Ibrahim Khalil al-Douri, Saadi Tu'ma Abbas and Ghalib Omar
Mahdi.
- Tareq Aziz, the Iraqi former deputy prime minister, denied through his lawyer
on Tuesday August 9, 2005, that he might testify against his former president
Saddam Hussein in his trial.
- The lawyer for Tariq Aziz, a former deputy prime minister, foreign minister
and top lieutenant of Saddam Hussein, claimed Thursday August 18, 2005, his
client could be released soon because of legal missteps by the Iraqi tribunal
set up to prosecute former regime figures.
- The family of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz saw him in prison
for the first time on Saturday August 20, 2005. Aziz, detained in Iraq, met
his wife Violet, daughters Zainab and Saja, his sister Amal and her son Mazen,
his sister told Reuters in Baghdad.
- On May 29, 2005, a British newspaper has published letters "written"
in prison by former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. In the letters
released addressed to "world public opinion", he pleads for international
help to end "his dire situation". Mr Aziz is being held at a US-run
jail outside Baghdad at the same place as Saddam Hussein. In the letters,
Mr Aziz says he is innocent and is being held unjustly.
- Former intelligence chief Barazan Ibrahim, former Vice-President Taha Yassin
Ramadan and a local Baath party official, Awad Hamed al-Bandar have been charged
of murder and will soon be tried.
- A UK lawyer has been asked by Saddam Hussein's legal team on October 14,
2005, to help defend the ex-Iraqi leader. Anthony Scrivener QC would lead
a team challenging the lawfulness of the tribunal, in which Saddam is to face
mass murder charges. He would only take on the job if Saddam's people come
back to him and "the circumstances are right".
Saddam Hussein and seven former collaborators'trial
- Saddam Hussein appeared for the first time in court on July 1, 2004. For
somebody who was said to be disoriented, he did a very good show. He looked
thinner but old Saddam Hussein's character was not changed. He is said to
be keeping in shape working out twice a day between interrogations (that did
not give any interesting results). He has lost about 12 pounds. He complained
that no lawyer was present to help him. On the opposite the young judge who
interrogated him refused to give his name and he hid his face from the camera.
People in Iraq, even the judges, are still afraid of Saddam Hussein and his
remaining followers. When asked his name he replied, "I am Saddam Hussein,
the still-serving president of Iraq". Where do you live asked the judge.
The answer was simple, "I live in every Iraqi's house". Some of
his other comments are worth mentioning:
. On Bush: "Everyone knows that this is theatre by Bush the criminal
in an attempt to win the election."
. On the invasion of Kuwait in 1991: "I was protecting Iraqis from those
dogs who wanted to turn women into prostitutes."
. On the charges brought against him: "I did all these things as president
so don't strip me of that title."
. On his defence and the offer to have a lawyer appointed by the court: "They
say I have millions of dollars stashed away. Why shouldn't I afford a lawyer?"
- On July 1, 2004, most Iraqis followed the beginning of the trial on television
with mixed emotions. Like the Arabs in other countries, they did not like
their former president judged by a court linked to the Americans. If need
be to show that this is the case no journalist was admitted to the court except
a few Americans! It is already obvious that Saddam Hussein's lawyers will
challenge the legitimacy and the neutrality of the court later on. The main
charges against the former presidents are:
. The attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja with chemical weapons that
killed about 5,000 people.
. The 1983 killing of 32 members of the Barzani family. Massoud Barzani was
the leader of the Kurdish Democratic party.
. The killing of Iraqi political leaders for about 30 years.
. The killing of religious leaders including the Shia Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq
al-Sadr and his son Mustafa.
. The "Anfal" campaign, the persecution of the Kurds (about 100,000
were killed in the late 1980's).
. The suppression of the 1991 Shia and Kurdidh uprising following the first
Gulf war.
. The invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.
- On December 16, 2004, Saddam Hussein met for four hours with one of his
defence lawyer for the first time since his capture one year ago. The unknown
lawyer said that Saddam Hussein seemed to be in good health and that his moral
was high.
- Saddam Hussein's lawyers said on June 10, 2005, they have not yet been given
any details of the case against him. The lawyers said they have none of the
estimated eight million documents relating to the case, and have not been
formally told of the charges. Saddam Hussein has been allowed two meetings
with his lawyers since his capture in December 2003.
- New film has been released on June 13, 2005, showing the former Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein being questioned by magistrates. He was answering questions
over the killing of dozens of men in a Shia village north of Baghdad in 1982
after a failed assassination attempt. The former leader's well-groomed appearance
is in marked contrast to recent pictures, published by a British tabloid newspaper,
showing the former president of Iraq dressed only in his underpants.
- On June 13, 2005, the ex-president Saddam Hussein was shown on the Iraqi
television while being interrogated by a judge.
- Iraq's special tribunal has laid the first formal charges against Saddam
Hussein for crimes committed during his 25-year rule and a date for his trial
may be announced "within days", the tribunal said on Sunday July
17, 2005. Its chief investigating judge told a news conference in Baghdad
that Saddam and three others had been charged with the killings of Shiite
Muslims in the village of Dujail in 1982. The case is seen as relatively minor
compared to accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity that have
also been levelled at the former president. But investigators say it may be
easier to prove Saddam's personal culpability in the smaller case, leading
to a swift conviction and possible death sentence. The judge, Raed Jouhi,
said court proceedings were continuing and a date for the trial would be set
"within days". The other defendants are Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's
half- brother and former head of Iraq's intelligence service; Taha Yasin Ramadan,
former vice president; and Awad Hamad al-Bander, former chief judge of Saddam's
Revolutionary Court.
- Iraq' s ex-president, Saddam Hussein, listened to charges against him by
a tribunal official on Thursday July 21, 2005. A videotape aired by al-Arabiya
TV showed a defying Saddam appearing before a tribunal official, listening
to charges against him, including dispossessing properties belonging to Iraqi
Kurds and Shiite Muslims. The judge can be heard from the video telling Saddam,
"You are detained by an elected government for charges against you. You
are accused of confiscating properties of Shiite Fali Kurds. You have the
right to have a lawyer." Saddam talked back several times during the
hearing. He interrupted the official by saying, "Under the law, shouldn't
the lawyer face his defendant before the hearings?" He also complained
that he had not been told when the hearing would be held. "I am detained
and this is a game ... I am detained by the Iraqi government appointed by
the Americans," said Saddam, who was with his lawyer.
- Saddam Hussein's lawyer said that the former president was attacked as he
was leaving the courtroom, and there was an exchange of blows with an unidentified
man after questioning by the Iraqi special tribunal on Thursday July 28, 2005.
However, a US military spokeswoman denied that any such incident happened.
- Saddam Hussein's family said on August 8, 2005, it has dissolved his Jordan-based
legal team and appointed Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi as the ``one and sole
legal counsel.''
- The trial of Saddam Hussein will begin in the second half of October, an
Iraqi government official said on September 2, 2005. The former Iraqi leader
has been charged with the 1982 killing of 143 people in Dujail, north of Baghdad,
after a failed assassination attempt. He is also expected to face charges
of gassing Kurds, using violence to suppress uprising and murdering rivals.
If found guilty, Saddam Hussein faces a possible death penalty.
- The Iraqi government has confirmed that the trial of Saddam Hussein will
begin on 19 October. Iraq's Shia-led government has reintroduced the death
penalty after it was suspended following the US-led invasion in 2003. Saddam
Hussein changed his defence team following last month's move by his family
to revoke the right of attorney for Western and Arab lawyers claiming to represent
the former Iraqi leader.
- The murder of a second defence attorney in the trial of Saddam Hussein and
other former Iraqi leaders Tuesday November 8, 2005, raised doubts about the
trial's future and calls from legal experts for the court to be relocated
outside of Iraq. Adel al-Zubeidi, the lawyer for former Iraqi Vice President
Taha Yassin Ramadan, was shot to death and attorney Thamir al-Khuzaie was
wounded in an ambush in the Iraqi capital. It was the second such assassination
in a month.
- On November 2, 2005, former US Attorney General, Ramsey Clark and former
Qatari Justice Minister Najib al-MNueimi flew to Baghdad to add weight to
Saddam Hussein's defence team.
- The lawyers representing former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his seven
co-defendants in their trial for crimes against humanity said they are boycotting
the next hearing as it is not safe for them, after the murder of two of their
colleagues. Lead counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi called the 28 November hearing
"cancelled and illegitimate" and urged the United Nations to intervene
to stop the trial continuing. Their decision to boycott the trial follows
the killing of Adel al-Zubeidi and wounding of Thamer Hamoud al-Khuzaie on
Tuesday November 9, 2005, when gunmen attacked them as they drove through
western Baghdad.
Just one day after the trial began on 19 October; defence lawyer Sadoun Nasouaf
al-Janabi was kidnapped from his office by gunmen and found dead the following
day. The defence team called for Saddam Hussein's trial to be moved outside
Baghdad or abroad to protect their lives and ensure a fair trial. In a statement,
they said the defence team had received no guarantee from either the court
or the government over their safety following al-Janabi's murder.
- On November 16, 2005, two court employees allegedly punched Saddam Hussein
several times after he cursed two Shiite saints. Iraqi court official denied
the information on November 18.
- On Wednesday November 23, 2005, it is not clear if Saddam Hussein and seven
former collaborators' lawyers will be present when their trial resume on November
28. They have said that they will not come for security reasons as the insurgents
have already killed two of them. Raid Juhi, one of the judges, said that the
court will appoint new lawyers if those in charge fail to appear because of
the lack of security.
- Iraqi police arrested eight Sunni Arabs on November 26, 2005 in Kirkuk.
They are suspected of plotting to kill the judge, Raed Juhi, who prepared
the indictment of Saddam Hussein.
- The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven of his former collaborators restarted
on Monday November 28, 2005. However it was soon delayed for another week
to allow the new lawyers who replaced the two killed previously more time
to prepare their defence. Saddam Hussein complained of his treatment by his
"occupiers and invaders" guards.
- On December 5, 2005, the first day of testimony, two witnesses described
mass arrest, torture and killing of 140 Shiite in the town of Dujail in 1982
after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein. Defence layers questioned
the reliability of witnesses who were 15 and 10 at the time, and walked out
of the courtroom when the presiding judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, refused to
allow former US Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, to address the court. Saddam
Hussein and his half-brother, Barazan Ibrahim, screamed and shouted.
- One of the five judges in the trial of Saddam Hussein stepped down because
one of the co-defendants may have been involved in the execution of his brother
0n December 4, 2005.
- On December 6, 2005, Saddam Hussein told his judges "to go to hell"
adding that he would not be in court tomorrow. He said that him and the other
seven accused had been badly treated by the court having been without a shower,
a change of cloth and the opportunity to smoke for three days.
- On Wednesday December 7, 2005, Saddam Hussein did not appear in court but
the trial went on. The court heard more witnesses before adjourning util December
21, six days after the Prliamentary elections.
- On December 8, 2005, Saddam Hussein's main lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, said
that three men threatened him as he boarded a plane from Baghdad to Jordan.
Apparently other lawyers were also threatened this week.
- During the court session in Baghdad on December 21, 2005, Saddam Hussein
complained that he, and the other accused, have been mistreated by their American
guards -beaten and insulted. Once more he was at the centre stage of his trial,
more like an actor than an accused of mass murder. Of course, the White House,
the State department, the Army denied any mistreatment. During the same session
three witnesses explained how they had been treated by Saddam Hussein following
the attempt to kill him in Dujail when he was president. At east 140 Shiite
civilians were killed.
- On December 22, 2005, an Iraq investigative judge, Raid Juhi, contradicted
Saddam Hussein's claims that he and the other co-defendants were beaten if
not tortured by their American guards. He said that he asked them many times
during their detention if they had been treated fairly and the answer so always,
yes. If they had complained a medical team would have investigated their claims.
- On December 23, 2005, Saddam Hussein's chief Iraqi lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi,
said that he saw the bruises inflicted by American guards. If this were true,
it would confirm that Saddam was beaten and possibly tortured by US soldiers.
- On December 26, 2005, the lawyer of Saddam Hussein's half brother, Barazan
Ibrahim, said that his client had been offered a US deal in exchange of him
revealing Saddam Hussein's crimes. He refused. The Americans denied that they
offered him any deal.
- On January 14, 2006, we were told that Saddam Hussein trial's chief judge,
Rizgar Mohammed Amin, had resigned. For some time he had been criticized for
giving too much leeway to Saddam Hussein and the other accused in their defence.
The news has yet to be confirmed.
- Saddam Hussein's trial was to resume on January 24, 2006, but it was postponed
to January 30. It seems that some witnesses could not reach Baghdad in time
having been to the Haij pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The ritual ended
two weeks ago! Rizgar Mohammed Amin's resignation was confirmed. The first
presiding judge did not accept the government telling him what to do. His
deputy, Saeed al-Hammash was nominated to replace him, but the decision was
reversed when it was found that he was a former Baath party member. Now the
presiding judge will be the Kurd Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman.
- On January 25, 2006, Saddam Hussein's trial looks more and more as a joke
as it reflects Iraq's deep divide. Two defence lawyers have been killed, the
presiding judge resigned and we are now with his second or third replacement.
The trial opened on October 19, 2005 but until now it has only had seven sessions.
And, of course, it is seen as a US run trial and, unfortunately, it is.
- On January 29, 2006, the new judge, Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman took over
the trial of Saddam Hussein and his 7 co-defendants. He is a career judge
known for it efficiency and adherence to the law. The trial soon erupted in
chaos with the new judge ordering all four lead defendants out of his court.
Their trial went on in absentia. Soon Ibrahim called the court a "daughter
of the whore" and refused to obey Rahman's orders. Four attendants dragged
him out of the court. One lawyer for the defence, Salih al-Armouti, yelled
at the judge and him too was dragged out. Then Saddam Hussein had a furious
exchange of words with the judge and was sent out of the courtroom. Six defence
attorneys left and they were replaced by other court appointed lawyers. Khalil
al-Dulaimi, Saddam's lead lawyer asked that the process took place outside
Iraq as the expulsion of the defendants' lawyers made a fair trial impossible.
- Without Saddam Hiussein and four other co-defendants, and without their
chosen lawyers, the trial went ahead. The new chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman,
heard five witnesses in close succession. The trial is looking more and more
unfair even if the accused are no angels.
- On February 2, 2006, the trial of Saddam Hussein was postponed to 13 February
after briefly being resumed with none of the eight defendants in court. The
only three who had not already been boycotting the trial were also expelled
for disorderly behaviour. Defence lawyers have also been refusing to appear,
accusing the Kurdish chief judge of bias against the defendants.
- An angry Saddam Hussein has appeared in court on Monday February 13, 2006,
saying he was being forced to attend after boycotting earlier sessions with
his seven co-defendants. The former Iraqi leader shouted "Down with Bush"
and continued a stormy exchange with the new chief judge who he says is biased
and wants removed. The trial was adjourned until Tuesday but not before two
ex-Saddam aides complained of being forced to testify.
- Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has told a Baghdad court on February
14, 2006,that he and his seven co-accused have been on hunger strike for three
days in protest at their treatment. The session, which ran for about three
hours, heard testimony from three former regime officials. The trial has been
adjourned until 28 February. Saddam Hussein's half-brother and co-defendant
Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti cross-examined the witness briefly, then launched
into a largely uninterrupted speech for almost 30 minutes, denying any connection
to the massacre. He attended court dressed for a second day in his long underwear
to signal his rejection of the court.
- Saddam Hussein's trial resumed in Baghdad on February 28, 2006.
Special notes:
Saddam Hussein can no longer force Iraqis to celebrate "victory"
in the war with Iran but they are still haunted by the conflict 25 years to
the day after it started.
Here is a short chronology of the main events of the Iran-Iraq war.
- September 7, 1980 - Iraq accuses Iran of shelling Iraqi border towns from
territory belonging to Iraq under 1975 Algiers agreement on frontier line
and Shatt al-Arab waterway. 10 days later Saddam Hussein tears up Algiers
accord.
- September 22/23 - Iraqi troops invade Iran.
- September 28 - Saddam Hussein says that the invasion was a pre-emptive strike
in the face of imminent Iranian attack. Iraq captures the Iranian port of
Khorramshahr.
- March 1982 - Iran launches ground offensive and re-takes Khorramshahr.
- 1983 - Iran threatens to seal off Strait of Hormuz - then a lifeline for
world oil supplies - if Iraq takes delivery of new weapons from France.
- March 1984 - Iranian Revolutionary Guards thrust across on the southern
front and capture Iraq's oil-rich Majnoon Islands.
- November 26 - Iraq and United States establish full diplomatic relations
which had been terminated in 1967 after U.S. support for Israel.
- December - Iraq begin attacks on Gulf tankers using Kharg island oil terminal.
- February 1986 - Iran captures the Iraqi port of Faw.
- January 9, 1987 - Iran launches major offensive towards Basra, viewed as
one of the war's major actions.
- July 27 - U.N. Security Council passes resolution 598 ordering an immediate
ceasefire.
- February 29, 1988 - Tehran comes under missile attack for the first time.
Thousands of civilians are killed on both sides in "war of the cities".
- March - Iran seizes the town of Halabja in northeastern Iraq. Tehran says
Iraq used chemical weapons to punish inhabitants for not resisting. It says
5,000 were killed.
- April - Elite Iraqi forces re-capture the port of Faw. In June they also
take back the Majnoon islands.
- July 3 - An Iran Air A-300 Airbus is shot down over the Gulf by the U.S.
warship Vincennes which wrongly identifies the airliner as an attacking fighter.
All 290 aboard are killed.
- July 18 - Iran says it accepts Security Council resolution 598.
- August 20 - Ceasefire officially implemented and monitored by U.N. Iran-Iraq
Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG).
- A lawyer for Tariq Aziz has denied on October 17, 2005, a British newspaper
report that the former Iraqi deputy prime minister will testify against Saddam
Hussein. The lawyer, Badie Izzat Aref, said Mr Aziz would not give evidence
against the former leader, whose trial is set to begin on Wednesday. Human
Rights Watch has warned the proceedings might not meet international standards.
Mr Aziz has so far not been charged with any specific crimes. He has been
held at a secret location since his surrender in April 2003.
- Saddam Hussein's trial has begun in Baghdad on October 19, 2005 with the
ousted Iraqi leader defiantly questioning the validity of the court before
pleading not guilty. He refused to confirm his identity telling the presiding
judge: "Who are you? What does this court want?" Saddam Hussein's
co-accused are Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, his half-brother who was his intelligence
chief; former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan; Awad Hamed al-Bandar, a
former chief judge; and Dujail Baath party officials Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid,
Ali Daeem Ali, Mohammed Azawi Ali and Mizher Abdullah Rawed. All eight defendants
pleaded not guilty to charges of ordering the killing of 143 Shia men in 1982.
If convicted, they could face the death penalty. Saddam Hussein's defence
team had said they wanted a postponement to prepare their case, but the chief
judge as saying the main reason was witnesses had not shown up.
- The trial began in an imposing marble building that once served as the National
Command Headquarters of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, in the heavily fortified
Green Zone in the Iraqi capital. As two guards were leading him in, he gestured
with his hand to slow them down. Amid some verbal sparring with the judge,
the former Iraqi leader stated: "I preserve my constitutional rights
as the president of Iraq. I do not recognise the body that has authorised
you and I don't recognise this aggression. Later, as the trial adjourned,
he was involved in what appeared to be a scuffle with the guards who wanted
to grab his arms to escort his out.
- A lawyer, Sadoun Nasouaf al-Janabi, who was defending an associate of Saddam
Hussein has been found shot dead on October 21, 2005, after he was abducted
in Baghdad. Gunmen seized him at his office in the Iraqi capital on Thursday
evening, had been shot in the head. The killing has fuelled claims that it
will be impossible for the former Iraqi leader to get a fair trial. Mr Janabi
was acting for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar,
a former top judge. The lawyer's body was found outside the city's Firdous
mosque.
- Co-defendants in Saddam Hussein's trial have begun testifying about their
alleged role in a mass killing as their trial resumed in Baghdad on March
12, 2006. Almost 150 villagers were killed in Dujail in 1982 after an assassination
attempt on the deposed Iraqi leader. At the last hearing some two weeks ago,
Saddam Hussein told the court he alone was responsible for the killings but
insisted no crime had been committed.
- A co-defendant in the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Awad
Hamad al-Bandar, has acknowledged on March 13, 2006, sentencing 148 Shia to
death, but said it was done legally.
- Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has begun his first formal defence at
his trial for crimes against humanity on March 15, 2006, by describing the
court as a "comedy". The judge closed the hearing to the public
after Saddam Hussein called on the Iraqi people to "resist invaders".
Earlier, his former spy chief denied any involvement in the deaths.
- On April 5, 2006, Saddam Hussein has dismissed evidence suggesting he approved
the execution of people less than 18 -the minimum age for death sentences
under his rule. He was being cross-examined for the first time about the killing
of Shia in the town of Dujail, following an attempt to assassinate him in
1982. He also said prosecution witnesses at his trial in Baghdad had been
bribed and coached in what to say. A defence lawyer was ejected from court
after an altercation with the judge after she wanted to display photos of
Iraqis tortured in US-run prisons.
- Expert witnesses at the trial of Saddam Hussein said on April 16, 2006,
he signed the death warrants for 148 Shia in Dujail in 1982, prosecutors claim.
Experts said the signature on the orders matched the writing of the former
Iraqi leader. Defence lawyers disputed the writing claim, before the trial
was adjourned.
- Saddam Hussein personally signed documents ordering the killing of 148 Shia
villagers in Dujail, handwriting experts have concluded on April 18, 2006.
Prosecutors have presented thousands of documents to the court to try to prove
a paper trail exists linking the former Iraqi leader directly to the killings.
- Prosecutors at Saddam Hussein's trial have played on April 24, 2006, a recording
said to be of a phone call in which Saddam discussed a crackdown on Shia with
a co-defendant. During the call, the ousted leader allegedly discussed the
destruction of farmland in Dujail with former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan.
- Iraq's deposed leader Saddam Hussein has refused to enter a plea on May
14, 2006, after detailed charges were formally presented at his trial in Baghdad.
The chief judge read out specific charges against him relating to the killings
of Shia Muslims in 1982. "This is no way to treat the president of Iraq,"
Saddam Hussein said when asked to plead guilty or not. After Saddam and seven
co-defendants heard the charges against them, the defence was to present its
case.
- Under the Iraqi legal system being used in this case, the court first hears
the prosecution evidence and then the judges decided on the specific charges
to be brought. The charges read out by Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman relate
to the defendants' alleged roles in the crackdown on the town of Dujail in
1982 after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein
was charged with the torture of women and children, the illegal arrest of
399 people and the murder of nine people.
- The trial of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants resumed on Monday May 15, 2006, with further defence witnesses appearing. The judge read out specific charges against the defendants relating to the killings of Iraqi Shia in 1982. Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea, insisting the trial was "no way to treat the president of Iraq". Saddam Hussein's lawyers complained that their client had not been called to appear in court on Tuesday.
- The former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants were back in court in Baghdad as their trial on murder and torture charges continued on May 17, 2006. Speaking from behind a curtain, witnesses testified in defence of some of the lesser-known defendants. The trial was then adjourned until next week when the focus is expected to turn to Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants. The judge has agreed to allow the defence to call Saddam as a witness for one of his co-defendants, AP reports. Former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan asked for Saddam Hussein and the former Iraqi intelligence chief, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, to be allowed to testify on his behalf.
- Chief Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman ordered guards to remove one of Saddam Hussein's the defence lawyers from the courtroom. Bushra Khalil and the judge argued when he told her to wait for her turn to speak. When she persisted, court guards threw her out. Three defence witnesses were called on Monday May 22, 2006. The trial has now been adjourned until Wednesday. Saddam Hussein protested to the judge about the lawyer's removal, but he too was told to be quiet.
- Former Iraqi Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has
been testifying for the defence on May 24, 2006, at the trial of ousted leader
Saddam Hussein. Mr Aziz, who is not on trial, said none of the defendants
were guilty "because they punished those who tried to assassinate the
head of state". The trial has now been adjourned until 29 May.
- Mr Aziz, once the international face of the Iraqi regime, appeared in court
on May 24, 2006, looking pale and wearing pyjamas. He has complained of ill
health and has been demanding that he be temporarily released from US custody
to seek medical treatment. Mr Aziz said: "The Dujail case is part of
a chain of assassination operations against officials and I am one of the
victims." He added: "The president of the state in any country,
if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those
who conduct and help this operation. Mr Aziz said he was testifying on behalf
of Saddam Hussein, and also the former president's half brother and former
head of intelligence Barzan al-Tikriti and former vice president Taha Yassin
Ramadan. Saddam is my colleague and comrade for decades, and Barzan is my
brother and my friend and he is not responsible about Dujail's events,"
Mr Aziz said. Also testifying on Wednesday was Saddam Hussein's director of
personal security, Abed Hamid Mahmud. He gave an account of the assassination
attempt in 1982, saying conspirators had marked Saddam Hussein's car for attack
by using blood from sacrificed sheep. Mr Mahmud said a radio set had been
found capable of contacting other countries and this showed Iran was "obviously"
involved in the attack.
The trial of Iraq's former President, Saddam Hussein, has resumed on May 29,
2006, with more defence witnesses taking the stand.
- Defence witnesses at the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein have testified on May 30, 2006, that death sentences handed down to 148 Shia men were fair. The men from Dujail were convicted for their alleged involvement in a 1982 assassination attempt on the ex-leader.
- One of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants, former Iraqi intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti has been thrown out of court as their trial resumed in Baghdad on June 12, 2006. Mr Tikriti was dragged from the court by security guards after angry exchanges with the chief judge.
- The chief judge overseeing the trial of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has ruled on June 13, 2006, that no more defence witnesses can be called to give evidence. He said, "You've presented 62 witnesses. If that's not enough to present your case, then 100 won't work."
- On June 19, 2006, the prosecution in the trial of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein has called for his execution as it delivered its closing arguments.
The prosecution said Saddam Hussein and two of his seven co-defendants should
be put to death for war crimes. The trial has now adjourned and judges will
consider their verdict after final defence arguments on 10 July.
- One of the main lawyers defending former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein at his trial has been shot dead on June 21, 2006. Khamis al-Obeidi's body was found dumped in the capital, Baghdad, hours after he was abducted from his home. Two other defence lawyers were murdered last year in the early stages of the trial, which is set to end next month. Chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said Mr Obeidi was abducted from his home in Baghdad's southern Doura district by men wearing police uniforms. Mr Obeidi's body was found near the Shia district of Sadr City. Unlike Mr Dulaimi, who travels between Amman in Jordan and Baghdad, Mr Obeidi had chosen to continue living in the Iraqi capital despite tenuous security.
- Executing Saddam Hussein would fuel more sectarian violence in Iraq, a US lawyer for the deposed Iraqi leader said on Tuesday June 27, 2006. "That execution would inflame a country that's already incinerating," former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark said. "I hope the American people can realize that if there is ever a time to call for an end to executions, it is in this case." Saddam's trial for crimes against humanity has been a miscarriage of justice, depriving a death sentence of legitimacy, Clark said. He added that the trial has been unduly influenced by the United States, which has attracted international criticism for its own high rate of executions.
- Saddam Hussein's wife and eldest daughter -along with the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq- are among 41 people on the Iraqi government's most wanted list, we were told on Sunday July 2, 2006. Saddam's wife, Sajida Khairallah Tulfah, was No. 17 on the list just behind her eldest daughter Raghad. Sajida is believed to be living in Qatar, and Raghad lives in Jordan, where King Abdullah II gave her refuge.
- On Monday July 10, 2006, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his lawyers have said they will boycott his trial until security is improved and other demands met. Closing defence arguments were due to start in the court but Saddam and some co-defendants and defence lawyers failed to appear. In a letter to the court, Saddam criticised the trial, which he said was driven by "malicious" US desire. Saddam and seven co-accused deny charges of crimes against humanity. The prosecution has demanded the execution of Saddam and two others for the deaths of 148 villagers during a crackdown in the village of Dujail after an assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982.
- Saddam Hussein has urged the Americans to "save your country and leave Iraq" in a letter written in prison to the American people and released in Jordan Friday July 21, 2006, by his lawyers. Mr. Hussein blamed US President George W. Bush and pro-Israel groups for misleading the U.S. public to justify into the war.
- Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who had been on hunger strike, says he was taken to court from his hospital bed against his will on July 26, 2006. He was taken to hospital on Sunday because of his hunger strike, which he reportedly began on 7 July in protest at the killing of three of his lawyers. He said if he was found guilty and faced death, he would like to be shot, not hanged "like a common criminal".
- On July 28, 2006, the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity has been adjourned until 16 October when a verdict is expected. Prosecutors want the death penalty for Saddam Hussein and two of the seven other defendants. All deny the charges.
- Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea on the opening
day -August 21, 2006- of his trial on charges of genocide and crimes against
humanity. He is one of seven defendants being tried in Baghdad in connection
with an anti-Kurdish offensive in 1987-88. The trial heard that 182,000 people
were killed in Operation Anfal.
- The trial of Saddam Hussein and six others on genocide charges has resumed in Baghdad on September 11, 2006, after a three-week break. A former Kurdish guerrilla told the court of the deadly aftermath of what he said was a chemical attack carried out by the then Iraqi leader's forces. Katherine Elias Mikhail described how people fell to the ground, vomiting and in pain, after a bombing raid in 1987. The prosecution says that up to 180,000 civilians were killed during the Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds. Saddam Hussein was present in court along with his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid. Both men are accused of genocide.
- The chief prosecutor in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein has called for the judge to stand down on September 13, 2006, saying he is biased towards the former Iraqi leader. Munqith al-Faroon said defendants had been given too much room to threaten witnesses and make political speeches. Judge Abdullah al-Amiri rejected the request, saying his approach was based on fairness and 25 years' experience.
- On September 18, 2006, Iraq's government sacked the chief judge trying Saddam Hussein on genocide charges, saying he has lost his "neutrality" after stating the ousted leader was not a dictator. The court agreed to replace Abdullah al-Amiri with a new judge. The comment which enraged once Saddam opponents and today's rulers of Iraq, came after a Kurdish witness told the court how he had managed to meet the deposed Iraqi president to ask about the whereabouts of family members who he said were killed in the Anfal military campaign of 1987-1988
- The new chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial ejected the ousted Iraqi leader from the courtroom on September 19, 2006, for refusing to sit down moments after hearings began on Wednesday. Defence lawyers also stormed out in protest against the sacking of Mohammed al-Ureybi's predecessor. Ureybi was named to take over the court after the government sacked Abdullah al-Amiri for saying Saddam was "not a dictator".
- Judge Muhammad Oreibi al-Khalifa ordered the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been thrown out of court on September 25, 2006, for the second time in a week, as defence lawyers boycotted the trial. Judge Muhammad Oreibi al-Khalifa ordered the former Iraqi leader to leave after refusing his request to be let out of his metal cage. Meanwhile the court heard from witnesses that Kurds were gassed with chemicals, raped and tortured during the late 1980s.
- Saddam Hussein has been ejected from his trial in Baghdad for the third
time in a week on September 26, 2006, after defying instructions from the
judge to be quiet. The other six co-defendants were also ejected shortly afterwards
following heated exchanges with the judge. The trial later continued without
the presence of the defendants or their lawyers, who are boycotting the trial.
- The brother-in-law of Mohammad Oreibi al-Khalifa, the new chief judge in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein, has been shot dead on September 28, 2006. Gunmen opened fire on Kadhem Abdul Hussein's car in the mainly Sunni suburb of West Baghdad. Mr Abdul Hussein, a Shia and the husband of Mr Khalifa's sister, was killed outright and police said his son was injured. Three defence lawyers working on the trials of the former Iraqi leader have been murdered since last October. It was not clear whether the attack was related to Judge Khalifa's role in the trial or was part of the current wave of sectarian attacks in the Iraqi capital.
- The trial of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for alleged war crimes and genocide against the Kurds in the 1980s resumed in Baghdad on Monday October 9, 2006. Proceedings were suspended two weeks ago after Saddam Hussein was ejected after defying instructions from the judge to be quiet. A key defence lawyer said his team will continue to boycott the trial.
- The chief judge at Saddam Hussein's genocide trial expelled the former Iraqi leader from court on Tuesday October 10, 2006, after he shouted out a verse from the Koran. It is the fourth time in recent weeks the former dictator has been ejected from his Baghdad trial for alleged war crimes and genocide against the Kurds. Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa cut off Saddam Hussein's microphone and ordered bailiffs to escort him out. A second defendant was also ejected and the trial continued in closed session. Before the session was disrupted, the court heard from a Kurdish woman who gave her testimony from behind a screen about her time in the former regime's prison camps. The witness also testified that pregnant women were treated inhumanely at the camps. She said one woman had given birth in a toilet and that fellow detainees helped her "cut the umbilical cord with broken glass and the baby was wrapped in a grain sack". Another female witness later told of a young woman being raped and killed in detention by a warden, named as Jaafar al-Hillawi. Some of those abused by the warden committed suicide. The former Iraqi leader's lawyers are boycotting the trial in protest against what they say is interference by the Iraqi government. Court-appointed lawyers have been attending in their place.
- Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein criticised the chief judge at his genocide trial in Baghdad on Wednesday October 11, 2006, saying he has not been allowed to defend himself. His comments came a day after the judge switched off the ex-leader's microphone and threw him out of court after he shouted a verse from the Koran. Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa said his actions were needed to bring order to the court. The case was adjourned to next Tuesday, after hearing three Kurdish witnesses.
- Gunmen killed the brother of the chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial Monday October 16, 2006, as the ex-president called in an open letter for Iraqis to forgive their American enemies and stop sectarian killings because the country's "liberation is at hand" The letter appeared to be an effort by Saddam to cast himself in the role of a statesman who could reconcile and rebuild a country now torn by intensifying sectarian bloodshed between Shiites and Sunnis, continuing attacks by Sunni insurgents and worsening economic problems.
- Saddam Hussein has accused prosecution witnesses at his trial for genocide
against the Kurds of fuelling division and hatred among Iraqis. He said: "The
Zionists are the only ones who will benefit from differences among Iraqis".
He was addressing the court after several Kurds testified about atrocities
allegedly committed by government forces in 1988. Prosecutors say some 180,000
people died during the Anfal offensive.
- On October 30, 2006, the court trying Saddam Hussein for genocide has heard testimony from Kurdish witnesses describing alleged chemical attacks on their villages. Villagers spoke of their memories of Operation Anfal, a crackdown against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s. They described a smell "like rotten apples" minutes after the bombings, comparing them to "Doomsday". Testimony came after the ousted Iraqi president's defence stormed out, saying the trial could not be fair. Chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi walked out of court after requests made in an apparent end to the boycott of the genocide trial were turned down. After a heated exchange, the judge appointed replacement lawyers for Saddam Hussein who rejected them.
- All military leave has been cancelled in Iraq on November 3, 2006, as part of increased security ahead of Sunday's expected verdict against Saddam Hussein. Other measures will include a 12-hour-long curfew in Baghdad, Diyala, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces. Saddam supporters have threatened more violence if he is sentenced to death. The verdict comes amid increased violence - 83 bodies, some showing signs of torture, were found in Baghdad alone in the past 36 hours.
- Saddam Hussein has been convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging on November 5, 2006. The former Iraqi leader was convicted over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on him in 1982. His half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar were also sentenced to death. Former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan got life in jail and three others received 15-year prison terms. Another co-defendant, Baath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, was acquitted. Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants will be given the right to appeal, but that is expected to take only a few weeks and to end in failure for the defendants. President George W. Bush celebrated Saddam Hussein's death sentence as a victory for "Iraq's young democracy" and US security, highlighting the verdict in the last hours of an election campaign in which Republicans are suffering from the American public's discontent with the Iraq war.
- Iraqi authorities have begun to lift a round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad on November 6, 2006, a day after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. Civilians have been allowed back out into the capital and two other provinces, but vehicles remain banned until Tuesday morning. Streets had been deserted for two days in anticipation of the verdict. An automatic appeal will be launched against the sentence and is due to be heard by a panel of nine judges.
- Saddam Hussein has urged Iraqis to seek reconciliation, on November 7, 2006, two days after being sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity. "I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake hands," the former president told the court in a separate trial for genocide. He is being tried with six others for his role in a military campaign against the Kurds in the late 1980s. More than 180,000 people are alleged to have died in the Anfal campaign.
- The trial of Saddam Hussein was so flawed that its verdict is unsound, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said on November 20, 2006. The Iraqi government dismissed the report, saying that the trial was both "just and fair". The ex-Iraqi leader has two weeks to lodge an appeal but his lawyer claims he has been blocked from doing so.
- A Kurd has testified how he survived a firing squad by Iraqi forces at the resumption of Saddam Hussein's genocide trial in Baghdad on November 27, 2006. The deposed leader and six others are on trial over their role in a campaign against the Kurds in the 1980s in which over 180,000 are alleged to have died. The court hopes to complete the case before Saddam Hussein is executed following his previous conviction.
- Saddam Hussein's lawyers Sunday December3, 2006 appealed the death sentence handed down to the ousted Iraqi president. Five Iraqi judges on November 5 sentenced Saddam and two other senior members of his regime to death by hanging for the killing of 148 people in the town of Dujail.
- Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein appeared in court on Wednesday December 6, 2006, despite saying a day earlier that he would refuse to attend further hearings of his genocide trial. On Tuesday, he had said he could no longer put up with "continued insults" by the chief judge and prosecutors.
- As the trial resumed, prosecutors in the genocide trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have presented evidence on December 18, 2006, they say link him to the use of chemical arms against Kurds. Saddam Hussein is being tried, along with six others, in connection with a campaign against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s in which more than 100,000 died.
- An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday December 26, 2006, upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity and said he should hang within 30 days. Human rights activists condemned his trial as seriously flawed and called on the government not to carry out the sentence. Sunni Arab leaders reacted angrily to the ruling, saying it was politically motivated by Saddam's former enemies now in power in a US-backed Shia -led national unity government. Saddam, 69, and two others were sentenced to death on November 5 for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shia s from the town of Dujail after he escaped assassination in 1982.
- On December 27, 2006, the US has hailed a ruling by an Iraq court that Saddam Hussein be executed within 30 days, while the EU has urged Baghdad not to carry out the sentence.
- Saddam Hussein, due to be hanged within 30 days, said on Wednesday December 27, 2006, that his execution would be a sacrifice for his country and called on Iraqis to unite and fight US forces.
- Lawyers for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have been asked to pick up his personal effects on December 29, 2006. But he has not yet been handed from US military to Iraqi custody. Saddam Hussein could be hanged at any time over the next four weeks, after an appeal against his execution failed.
- Saddam Hussein is dead. Before dawn Saturday December 30, 2006, the Iraqi government carried out the sentence an Iraqi court handed down in November -death by hanging. Until he was toppled by the US invasion in 2003, Saddam ruled Iraq for nearly a quarter-century, taking his nation into disastrous wars, first with Iran and then twice with the United States and its allies. A man of immense and grandiose ambitions and profound and foolish mistakes, he was the pre-eminent strongman in Iraq for three decades. In Iraq and in the wider Arab world, he inspired, by turns, awe, terror and hatred.
- Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq who spent his last years in captivity after his ruthless Baathist regime was toppled from power by the US-led coalition in 2003, has been hanged for crimes during a brutal crackdown during his reign. Hussein -whose name conjures lengthy war, government autocracy and widespread cruelty- was found guilty in the killings of 148 people in Dujail, a mostly Shiite town north of Baghdad, after a 1982 attempt to assassinate him. At the time of his death, he was being tried for genocide in the killings of up to 100,000 Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign against Kurdish rebels -a campaign that included the use of poison gas against Kurdish towns in northern Iraq. Hussein was the object of an intense manhunt after the invasion. The Bush administration and Britain claimed Iraq was harbouring weapons of mass destruction and constituted a threat to their national security. After the invasion, Hussein disappeared from public view, surfacing only in tapes released to Arab television networks. On December 13, 2003, coalition forces found Hussein tucked away in an underground bunker at a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit. His capture was one of the biggest coalition achievements in what many people say has been an ill-fated, mistake-filled expedition.
- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, hanged for crimes against humanity on Saturday, has been buried on December 31, 2006, in the village where he was born 69 years ago) in a place that was constructed during his regime in the centre of Awja. In a sparsely attended ceremony in Awja, in the Tikrit region north of the capital, the former Iraqi leader was laid to rest in a family plot. His sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in 2003, are also buried there. New video of his execution posted on the Internet, shows he exchanged taunts with onlookers from the gallows. Just hours after his execution, Saddam Hussein's body was reportedly flown to Awja aboard a US aircraft and handed to clan leaders for burial.
- On January 2, 2007, the Iraqi Government began an inquiry into how guards filmed and taunted Saddam Hussein on the gallows. After the execution, the Government released a video showing the hangman talking to a composed Saddam as he placed the noose round his neck. But mobile phone footage on the Internet shows guards shouting, "Go to hell" and exchanging insults with Saddam moments before he was hanged.
- On January 2, 2007, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has described the circumstances of Saddam Hussein's execution as "deplorable". Mr Prescott said those responsible for the scenes should be "ashamed", without saying if that included the Iraqi government, which organised the hanging.
- On Tuesday January 2, 2007, hundreds of supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein protested in the cities of Baghdad, Tikrit and Samara against his hanging. Many of the protesters vowed revenge for Saturday's execution, describing it as a criminal act of cowardice orchestrated by American overlords. Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, Raghad, joined hundreds of people in a protest in Jordan's capital Amman.
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour appealed to Iraq on January 4, 2007, not to execute two top officials from former president Saddam Hussein's rule. It follows speculation that Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, and former chief judge Awad al-Bandar are to be hanged soon.
- Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki said on January 6, 2007, his government could review relations with any country, which criticised the execution of ex-leader Saddam Hussein. Mr Maliki said the hanging was a "domestic affair" for the benefit of Iraq's unity, adding that the former president had received a fair trial. Several Sunni Arab countries have criticised the hanging as sectarian. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said it had turned the former leader into a martyr.
- On January 7, 2007, Tony Blair said the manner in which Saddam Hussein's execution was conducted was "completely wrong", the execution "shouldn't have happened in that way". Earlier Chancellor Gordon Brown told BBBC the events were "deplorable" and "unacceptable".
- On January 8, 2007, the Iraqi High Tribunal dropped all charges against Saddam Hussein, who was hanged on 30 December, as the genocide trial of six co-defendants resumed. They are charged with crimes against humanity over a campaign against Kurds in the 1980s that left 100,000 dead.
- A new video showing former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein after his execution
appeared on the Internet on January 9, 2007. In it, Saddam Hussein's body
can be seen lying on a hospital trolley, his throat red from a gaping neck
wound and head twisted sharply to one side. The film had been filmed on a
mobile phone. Two Iraqis are being questioned over that video and the taunts
heard then.
Voices
- The new footage shows a shrouded body lying on a trolley - possibly in a
morgue or hospital - as several people walk past, though only their legs are
shown. The person carrying the camera then lifts the sheet to reveal Saddam
Hussein's head. It is twisted at an angle of 90 degrees to his shoulders and
clearly visible on his throat, just beneath the jaw line, is a vivid, circular
wound about three centimetres wide - injuries that could have been caused
by hanging. His cheek is slightly flecked with blood and looks bruised, and
there is blood on the shroud. Several voices, apparently those of the people
making the video, can be heard during the 27-second clip. As the shroud is
pulled back to reveal Saddam Hussein's face an unidentified man says "Quickly,
quickly". A second man is heard saying, "I'm going to count from
one to four. One, two.... Come on, Habib. Come on. You will cause us a catastrophe".
A third man says: "I am coming. I am coming." The second man says:
"Abu Ali, Abu Ali: You take care of this. Habib! Habib!" The third
man says: "One minute. Just one minute." The first man shouts: "My
dear, my dear. By God..."
'Martyr' status
- The footage first surfaced on an Arabic website known to support Saddam
Hussein's outlawed Baath Party, under a headline reading "A new film
of the late immortal martyr, President Saddam Hussein". The injuries
visible on Saddam Hussein's body are consistent with hanging. There was outrage
among Iraq's Sunni community after an earlier unofficial video emerged which
showed Saddam Hussein being taunted on the gallows by his Shia executioners
right up until the moment of death. There was similar revulsion around the
world, with many leaders condemning the way in which the sentence was carried
out. The secret video was in stark contrast to the silent official video released
within hours of the execution, which painted a picture of a relative calm
and dignity in Saddam Hussein's final moments.
- Two of Saddam Hussein's key aides have been hanged in Baghdad on January 15, 2007, two weeks after the chaotic execution of the former Iraqi president. There were "no violations" this time, but Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, was decapitated as he was hanged. He and Awad Hamad al-Bandar, a top judge under Saddam, were convicted over the killing of 148 Shias in the 1980s. The country's president Jalal Talabani had urged their executions be delayed. Government officials said the decapitation of Barzan was not abnormal, although it was rare for the head to be severed during hanging. One described it as "an act of God".
- The gory and inadvertent decapitation of Saddam Hussein's half brother and Saddam's own undignified hanging have prompted renewed calls on January 17, 2007, to abolish the death penalty worldwide as critics in the West and elsewhere blamed the executions for fanning hate in the Middle East. Governments in the European Union, which has outlawed capital punishment, seized the opportunity to reiterate their opposition to the death penalty. Hours after the deaths of Barzan Ibrahim and al-Bandar, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Italian Premier Romano Prodi condemned the hangings in a joint news conference in Rome.
- The Iraqi High Court ruled on Monday February 12, 2007, that Saddam Hussein's former vice president should follow him to the gallows, despite appeals from UN officials and international human rights groups for his life to be spared. Ramadan was sentenced in November to life in jail for the killings, for which Saddam and two other men have already been hanged. An appeals court recommended that Ramadan receive the death penalty and had referred the case back to the trial court for a final decision.
- Former Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan lost his appeal on March 15, 2007, against a death sentence for killing Shia Muslims in the 1980s. Ramadan was sentenced to hang after an appeal by the Iraqi High Tribunal, which previously jailed him for life. He was tried alongside former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein over the killing of 148 Shia in the village of Dujail. Under Iraqi law he must follow Saddam Hussein to the gallows within 30 days of the appeals process being exhausted.
- Former Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan has been hanged on March
20, 2007,n the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam
Hussein. The execution happened before dawn at a prison in northern Baghdad;
it had gone smoothly. His son described the execution as "a political
assassination".
- A cousin of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" has been sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on June 24, 2007for the murder of thousands of Kurds in 1988 - for using poison gas in the Anfal campaign,. Two fellow defendants were equally sentenced to death while two others received life prison sentences.
- Interpol circulated on August 17, 2007, an arrest warrant for the oldest daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Raghad Saddam Hussein, who fled the 2003 US-led invasion, is accused of terrorism and other offences. She helped organise the legal defence of her father, who was hanged last December for crimes against humanity. Last year Iraq put Raghad and her mother, Sajida, on a list of its most wanted fugitives, alleging they supported the insurgency in Iraq. The Jordanian authorities said last year that she was living in their country as an asylum seeker, but it is not clear where she is at present.
- On August 21, 2007, fifteen aides of Saddam Hussein have been accused in
a court in Iraq to have helped suppress a Shia uprising after the 1991 Gulf
War, in which tens of thousands are thought to have died. In recent years,
mass graves containing hundreds of bodies have been uncovered. Those in the
dock include the cousin of Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al-Majid, who is widely
known as "Chemical Ali". Majid has already been sentenced to death
following an earlier trial for genocide against Iraq's Kurdish population
in the so-called Anfal campaign of 1988.
- he families of five British men taken prisoner in Iraq more than 100 days ago appealed to their captors on November 6, 2007: "please send them home to us". The men -four bodyguards and a computer expert- were seized on 29 May from Baghdad's Finance Ministry by gunmen believed to be in the Mehdi Army.
- Two Catholic priests kidnapped in Iraq have been freed and are in good
health we were told on Sunday October 21, 2007. The priests celebrated their
release with a service at a church in Mosul, where they were taken hostage
amid reports they were being held for a $1 million ransom. Last week Pope
Benedict appealed for the priests to be freed.
- US forces will not hand over "Chemical Ali" and two other cohorts of Saddam Hussein for execution until a legal row is settled, the US embassy said Monday November 12, 2007. On Sunday, Maliki accused the US embassy of playing an "unfortunate role" in preventing the handover of the three condemned men, who, like other members of Saddam's ousted regime, are in US military custody. He said that his government was "determined" that the executions be carried out.
- In prison cells guarded by American forces near Baghdad, the notorious "Chemical Ali" and two other former top officials in Saddam Hussein's regime wait, not knowing when they will be handed over to the Iraqi government for execution. It should have happened more than a month ago. The fact that it did not has stirred a tense row between the US embassy and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's administration.
- On December 24, 2007, the spiritual leader of Iraq's Chaldean Christian community, Cardinal Emmanuel Delly, asked the US forces to release Saddam Hussein's ex-deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Mr Aziz, who is himself a Christian, gave himself up to US forces after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 but no charges have been brought against him. He was seen in court last year in his pyjamas, testifying for the defence in the trial of Saddam Hussein.
- On December 30, 2007, we were told that Security forces in Iraq have been
placed on alert on the first anniversary of the execution of former President
Saddam Hussein. His supporters are expected to gather at his power base in
the city of Tikrit, and at his grave nearby.
- The execution of Saddam Hussein's cousin and henchman "Chemical Ali" has been approved by Iraq's presidency on February 27, 2008. He was condemned to death on genocide charges for killing 100,000 people during the 1988 Anfal campaign against the Kurds in northern Iraq. Chemical Ali -whose real name is Hassan al-Majid- was initially sentenced to death in June last year but legal wrangling held up the case. The execution is to be carried out within 30 days.
- On May 20, 2008, the prosecutor at the trial of the former Iraqi deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, called for a tough penalty to be handed down. Mr Aziz, once the public face of Saddam Hussein's government abroad, is accused over the deaths of 42 traders executed for sanctions profiteering in 1992. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty or be jailed for life.
- On December 2, 2008, an Iraqi court has sentenced to death Ali Hassan al-Majid,
also known as Chemical Ali, for his role in crushing a Shia uprising in 1991.
It is the second death sentence passed on Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein.
The court also condemned a senior Baath Party official, Abdulghani Abdul Ghafour,
to hang for the same crime. In February, Majid was condemned to hang for genocide
over the killing of 100,000 people during the 1988 Anfal campaign against
Iraq's Kurds.
- Ali Hassan al-Majeed, a former official in Saddam Hussein's regime known as "Chemical Ali," was given a third death sentence Monday March 2, 2009, for his role in killing and displacing Shiite Muslims in 1999. His previous sentences were for masterminding a campaign against Kurds in the 1980s and killing thousands of Shiites in a crackdown on their uprising after the 1991 Gulf War. Those executions have been held up by political wrangling.
- On March 11, 2009, Tariq Aziz, for many years the public face of Saddam
Hussein's Iraqi regime, has been jailed for 15 years for his role in the execution
of 42 merchants. Aziz had denied any role in the summary trials of the men
accused in 1992 of profiteering during economic sanctions. Two of Saddam Hussein's
half-brothers were also found guilty and sentenced to death. Another top official,
Ali Hassan al-Majid - commonly known as Chemical Ali - was jailed for 15 years.
Two other Iraqi officials were jailed for six and 15 years, while a former
governor of the Iraqi central bank was acquitted.
- The Iraqi government renewed its call on Tuesday March 17, 2009, for the executions of officials in the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein to go ahead despite the objections of Iraq's president and vice president. Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem and former army commander Hussein Rashid Muhammed have all been sentenced to death for their role in the Anfal military campaign against ethnic Kurds in 1988. Majeed has two other death sentences, one for crushing a 1991 Shiite revolt and another for killing and displacing Shiite Muslims in 1999. Majeed's initial death sentence in 2007 was widely cheered, but Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, opposed Hashem and Muhammed's execution, arguing the military men were following orders. That put Talabani and Hashemi at odds with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, whose co-religionists suffered terribly under Saddam's minority Sunni Arab rule. Although Talabani and Hashemi have no objections to the execution of Majeed, the legal wrangle has held up the execution of all three sentenced for the Anfal campaign. They were due to have gone to the gallows within days of an Iraqi appeals court upholding their death sentences in September 2007.
- On July 3, 2009, US investigators have released accounts of the questioning of Saddam Hussein, offering a goldmine of historical and personal details on the Iraqi leader. The documents released are from interviews and informal conversations he had in US custody with the FBI in early 2004. Saddam Hussein said he refused to allow UN weapons inspectors into Iraq to stop Iran knowing how weak it had become. And he scoffed at reports that he used body doubles to confuse assassins. The former Iraqi leader was interviewed by Arabic-speaking FBI agent George Piro after his capture nine months after the US-led invasion of Iraq.
- The Iraqi government has banned all organised visits to the grave of former leader Saddam Hussein. Hussein, hanged in 2006 after being convicted for crimes against humanity, is buried in his home village. Loyalists still regularly visit the site of the grave in Awja, where he is buried alongside his two sons. The government took the decision on July 7, 2009, after schools near his former stronghold arranged trips for their pupils to visit the site.
- Tariq Aziz, one of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's top lieutenants, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the ethnic forced displacement of Kurds in northern Iraq during Saddam's rule we were told on Monday August 3, 2009. Tariq Aziz, former deputy prime minister under Saddam, and three other co-defendants received on Sunday seven-year sentences, they are Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," former Interior Minister Sadoun Shakir and former regional official Mizban Khuder Hadi.
- An Iraqi court sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majeed, the Saddam Hussein henchman widely known as "Chemical Ali," to death by hanging Sunday January 17, 2010 for a 1988 gas attack that killed about 5,000 Kurds.
- Iraq's former deputy premier Tareq Aziz under Saddam Hussein has suffered a stroke on Friday January 15, 2010, and been moved from jail to a US military hospital. His condition is serious.
- Ali Hassan al-Majid, a symbol of the former government of Saddam Hussein, who ordered a poison gas attack on a Kurdish village in northern Iraq, was executed on Monday January 25, 2010.
- Dozens of Iraqis gathered at the grave of "Chemical Ali" in northern
Iraq on Wednesday January 27, 2010, to praise the cousin and notorious henchman
of Saddam Hussein who was executed for gassing thousands of Kurds in 1988.
"He was one of Ouja's most remarkable men," said Abu Shehab who
insisted that Ali Hassan al-Majid had been hanged to appease Iran and the
United States. Majid was buried on Tuesday in the town of Ouja near Tikrit
beside six other graves, including those of Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay,
and near the marble tomb of Saddam himself.
- On July 14, 2010, U.S. authorities have handed over to Iraq 55 members of Saddam Hussein's former regime, including the long-time international face of the regime, Tariq Aziz. U.S. authorities confirmed that they had handed over some detainees but would not give any identities.
- Iraq's high tribunal Tuesday October 26, 2010, passed a death sentence on Tareq Aziz, once the international face of dictator Saddam Hussein's government, over the persecution of Islamic parties. The death sentence was the first to be handed down to Aziz, who was well known in foreign capitals and at the United Nations before Saddam's downfall. He rose to prominence at the time of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf War, when he was foreign minister. Last year, Aziz was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his part in the killings of dozens of merchants in 1992 and to a further seven years for his role in the forced displacement of Kurds from northern Iraq during Saddam's rule.
- President Jalal Talabani said on Wednesday November 17, 2010, he would never sign former deputy premier Tareq Aziz's execution order, stressing it was time to turn the page on Iraq's history of capital punishment. Iraq's supreme criminal court found the long-time international face of former president Saddam Hussein's regime guilty of "deliberate murder and crimes against humanity," sentencing him to death.
- An Iraqi court sentenced former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz to 10
years in prison on Monday November 29, 2010, for the killing of minority Faili
Kurds during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Aziz has already been sentenced to
death for the suppression of Shiite religious parties in the 1980s, although
there have been international calls for him to be spared. In poor health and
among Saddam's few surviving top cohorts, Aziz, 74, has been in prison since
surrendering in April 2003, shortly after the capture of Baghdad in the US-led
invasion of Iraq.
- Iraq's former deputy Premier Tareq Aziz received a life sentence on Wednesday March 16, 2011, for his role in the 1980s killing of Shia officials. Aziz, who was sentenced to death in October for other crimes, appeared in court with former interior minister Saadun Shaker, his co-defendant on charges of murdering the sons of Ayatollah Mohsen al-Hakim, a key figure behind a 1960 Shia political revival in Iraq.
- The U.S. military has delivered two of Saddam Hussein's half-brothers and his former defence minister into Iraqi custody along with nearly 200 other inmates at a Baghdad prison we were told on Friday July 15, 2011. The men were transferred to Iraqi authorities on Thursday along with a final section of Cropper prison, a detention centre built in 2006 near the capital's international airport. Saddam's half-brothers, Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan and Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, and former defence minister Sultan Hashim all face death sentences. They were among 55 people on the U.S. most wanted list after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that deposed Saddam and were later convicted of crimes against humanity.
- On Thursday August 18, 2011, Iraq's former deputy premier and foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, who was sentenced to death last October, has called on the country's incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to speed up his execution because of his deteriorating health. The 74-year-old Aziz, a Christian and former right-hand man of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, was sentenced to death by hanging for persecution of Iraqi religious parties. He suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, prostate problems and ulcers. Many Western politicians and the Vatican have urged Baghdad to show clemency to Aziz. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has already said he will never sign the execution order.
- Iraq on Thursday June 7, 2012, executed Saddam Hussein's presidential secretary and chief bodyguard Abid Hamid Mahmud. Mahmud was number four on the list of Iraqi officials targeted by American forces following the 2003 US-led invasion, behind only Saddam and his two sons Uday and Qusay. He was captured on June 16, 2003, and eventually sentenced to death on October 26, 2010 along with former deputy premier Tareq Aziz and ex-interior minister Saadun Shaker, for their role in the crackdown on Shiite Muslim religious parties during the 1980s
.- Tarek Aziz died on Saturday July 6, 2013. He was a close aide to the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain and was believed to have known many of the regime’s secrets. Tarek Aziz will go down in history as a man who played an important role during one of the critical turns in Iraq’s modern destiny. Aziz was Iraq’s voice and representative on the international arena. He attended international meetings and gatherings throughout the second Gulf War of 1990-1991, and spoke on behalf of his country afterwards until the ousting of Saddam Hussain. Many still remember how the dark hair of the former foreign minister and deputy prime minister had turned grey in a span of a few months during the 1990 conflict, which destroyed Iraq and brought it back to the pre-industrial era.