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Iraq

Hussein judge target of plot

Amid tightening security, eight Sunni Arabs are arrested the day before the deposed dictator's trial resumes.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi police arrested eight Sunni Arabs for allegedly plotting to kill the judge who prepared the indictment of Saddam Hussein, authorities said Sunday, the day before the ousted leader's trial for crimes against humanity resumes.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Baghdad to help the defense but might not be allowed in court today when the first of up to 35 prosecution witnesses take the stand.

Tight security surrounds the proceedings, which are restarting after a five-week recess in a specially built courtroom in the heavily guarded Green Zone. The precise starting time was not announced due to fear of attack by both Hussein's supporters and opponents.

The eight alleged plotters from Iraq's Sunni Arab minority were apprehended Saturday in the northern city of Kirkuk, police Col. Anwar Qadir said.

He said they were carrying written instructions from a former top Hussein deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, ordering them to kill investigating judge Raed Juhi, who prepared the case against Hussein and forwarded it to the trial court in July.

Douri is the highest ranking member of Hussein's regime still at large and is believed to be at least the symbolic leader of Hussein loyalists fighting U.S. forces and Iraq's new government.

Hussein and seven co-defendants are charged in the killing of more than 140 Shiite Muslims after an assassination attempt against the former president in the Shiite town of Dujail in 1982. Convictions could bring a sentence of death by hanging.

Insecurity from the predominantly Sunni insurgency has complicated efforts to put Hussein on trial. Names of four of the five trial judges have been kept secret and some of the 35 witnesses may testify behind curtains to protect them from reprisal.

Defense lawyers had threatened to boycott the proceedings after two of their colleagues were slain in two attacks following the opening session Oct. 19.

However, lawyer Khamees al-Ubaidi told the AP on Sunday that the defense team would attend after an agreement with U.S. and Iraqi authorities on improving security for them.

On the eve of the hearing, Clark and former Qatari Justice Minister Najib al-Nueimi flew to the capital from Amman, Jordan, to lend weight to the defense team. Both have been advising Hussein's lawyers and support their call to have the trial moved out of Iraq because of the violence.

However, neither Clark nor Nueimi has been officially recognized by the court as legal counsel.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said Hussein's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, did not officially request permission for any foreign attorneys to attend the trial.

Clark, who served as attorney general under President Johnson, wrote last month that Hussein's rights had been systematically violated since his December 2003 capture, including his right "to a lawyer of his own choosing."

Clark and others say a fair trial is impossible in Iraq because of the insurgency and because, they argue, the country is effectively under foreign military occupation. U.S. and Iraqi officials insist the trial will conform to international standards.

The trial has unleashed passions in an Iraqi society divided in its judgment of Hussein and his rule.

Many of the Sunni Arab insurgent groups include Hussein loyalists, including members of the former ruling Baath party and veterans of both Hussein's personal militia and the Republican Guard.

The ousted leader is vilified by Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and its Kurdish community, which were oppressed during his rule.

On Saturday, hundreds of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rallied in Baghdad to demand Hussein's execution. Separately, the leader of the biggest Shiite party, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, accused the court of "weakness" for not having sentenced Hussein to death already.

[Last modified November 28, 2005, 01:05:08]