An Attack Upon Saddam During His Trial in Baghdad

07/30/05 -- The ousted Iraqi president faced a bare-knuckled assault last Thursday while appearing for a hearing before a special Iraqi court in Baghdad.

In a statement regarding Saddam, his defence team claimed that "a man took a shot at Saddam and the two of them exchanged blows during the hearing, which was attended by the lawyer for the defence, Khalil Aldulaimi."

The statement added, "As Saddam rose to exit the courtroom, one of the people present attacked him and there ensued an exchange of blows" between the man and the former Iraqi president.

The statement did not reveal whether Saddam had been harmed or not, but it delivered a rebuke to the tribunal, which did absolutely nothing to stop the attack, it claimed.

The Iraqi special criminal tribunal which has been charged with Saddam's trial did not comment upon the event, but it - if it is true - is dodging questions about the tribunal's responsibility for the safety of Saddam, who has many enemies among his political opponents or among those harmed by his politics.

On Friday, the criminal tribunal released a photographic picture of the ousted Iraqi president during his questioning about the matter of the accusations that were raised against him concerning the brutal repression of the Kurdish and Shiite uprising in 1991, with which the tribunal branded him.

Saddam was officially charged with the massacre of his countrymen in the village of al-Dujail in 1982, but the exact date of his trial, which his overseers expect to begin next September / Aylul, has not yet been fixed.

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--Translated by C.G. Häberl

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