Friday, Jul 02, 2004
Saddam Hussein, the man who brought the world "the mother of all battles", showed yesterday that he has lost none of his talent for turning a memorable phrase.
"I was protecting the Iraqi people from those Kuwaiti dogs who wanted to turn women into 10-dinar prostitutes," Mr Hussein said yesterday when charged with orchestrating the invasion of Iraq's southern neighbour in 1990.
The remark earned the former Iraqi dictator a reprimand - his only reprimand in the half-hour hearing - from the judge.
The remark also gave some indication of the havoc he has wrought in Iraq. Ten Iraqi dinars today are worth slightly less than 1 US cent.
Earlier Mr Hussein was formally arraigned on seven charges that reflected the widespread crimes of which he is accused and the number of enemies he made in his 34 years as the Ba'ath party's strongman.
He was charged with responsibility for the gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja; the murderous Anfal campaign against the Kurds; the invasion of Kuwait; killing the heads of political parties; killing religious leaders; killing the family of the Kurdish leader Masaoud Barzani in 1983; and suppressing the 1991 uprisings in the north and south of Iraq.
Mr Hussein was the first of 12 senior members of his Ba'athist regime to be arraigned yesterday in an administrative building that has been rebuilt as a courtroom.
Among those charged were Ali Hasan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in chemical attacks against the Kurds, Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, presidential adviser and Mr Hussein's half- brother, and Tariq Aziz, former foreign minister.
Early yesterday afternoon Mr Hussein was escorted to the building by Iraqi prison guards from an armoured bus heavily protected by a US military convoy.
Present were Salem Chalabi, who heads the special tribunal investigating crimes committed by the former regime, and Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser.
Journalists were not allowed to name the presiding judge. Also in the room were representatives of Iyad Allawi, the Iraqi prime minister, and Barham Saleh, the Kurdish deputy prime minister, and members of the US Department of Justice. In total only about 15 people were present, including several journalists.
Mr Hussein was unshackled throughout the hearing. He appeared older than in the days of his pomp but nonetheless healthy, according to the witnesses.
"I am Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq," he said when asked to identify himself.
At times he appeared to weaken but towards the end - and particularly during the altercation over Kuwait - he livened up, according to those present.
"Once he found his pitch he was in full-blown defiance," said John Burns, a correspondent for the New York Times who was the designated pool reporter to view the trial.
The former dictator recognised his rights to legal representation but refused to sign documents setting out the charges against him. Asked whether he could afford a lawyer, the former Iraqi dictator replied: "According to the Americans, I have millions of dollars in Geneva so I should be able to afford a lawyer."
The judge told Mr Hussein the proceedings were solely designed to arraign him and did not constitute a trial.
Mr Hussein, who took notes on yellow paper of the charges against him, told the judge: "I am surprised that you as an Iraqi are charging me with these things. I did all of these things as president. Don't strip me of that title."
But the judge replied that he was representing the people of Iraq.
At the Hamdani bakery in Baghdad's mixed University District, a dozen Sunnis, Shias and Kurds crowded round television sets transfixed by the resurrection of the dictator who dominated their lives for three decades.
"He's our president, and those who have orchestrated this show trial are traitors," said a bearded cook.
And many callers to Radio Tigris, a fledgling phone-in station that has captivated Baghdadis reared on airwaves offering a single opinion, continued to refer to "President Hussein". Additional reporting by Nicolas Pelham in Baghdad Editorial Comment, Page 20
By JAMES DRUMMOND and NICOLAS PELHAM
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