THE US, UN AND IRAQ V

Talking about a dead Saddam, though - if it's either the Iraqis or the Americans who are going to try him (or a combination) - the Americans have a death penalty, do the Iraqis too? Might he get the death penalty, at the end of the process and when he's heard about everything people would want him to testify about? Would it be a good thing if he did?

I'm an opponent of the death penalty, and I think sentencing him to death would set a bad precedent that would make it harder for (international) tribunals to get their hands on future war criminals / tyrants - BUT, if there was ever anyone who deserved it ... Plus, imagine Iraq having to keep him in jail - inside Iraq - forever - the attempts to help him escape one would always have to defend against ... the always lingering threat that in some future civil war, the jail doors would open and he'd be back ... the threat that he'd function as a martyr to some, especially if he's in an Iraqi jail while the Americans rule the country ... <shudder>.

I know this is going to sound awful, but in many ways it would be better if, at the end of the trials that will undoubtedly follow, Saddam wouldnt be there anymore. Though its true - an execution can unleash a backlash as well, of course. ..

I hope Saddam is turned over to the Iraqi govt--but, I also hope we can convince them not to behead him in a public square.

Sofia wrote:

I hope Saddam is turned over to the Iraqi govt--but, I also hope we can convince them not to behead him in a public square.

What Iraqi government?

for anyone interested in exploring some of the differences between sunni and shiite religion, go to this link >>> www.rim.org/muslim/shiite.htm i'm still interested to find out if anyone has any "on the ground" experience in iraq/middle-east; anyone study middle-east religion at university ? hbg

Well, I really think it would be more democratic to turn him to an Iraquian court.

for anyone interested in exploring some of the differences between sunni and shiite religion, go to this link >>> www.rim.org/muslim/shiite.htm i'm still interested to find out if anyone has any "on the ground" experience in iraq/middle-east; anyone study middle-east religion at university ? hbg

Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam

By Con Coughlin
(Filed: 14/12/2003)

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.

Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.

In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

The second part of the memo, which is headed "Niger Shipment", contains a report about an unspecified shipment - believed to be uranium - that it says has been transported to Iraq via Libya and Syria.

Although Iraqi officials refused to disclose how and where they had obtained the document, Dr Ayad Allawi, a member of Iraq's ruling seven-man Presidential Committee, said the document was genuine.

"We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda," he said. "But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."

Although Atta is believed to have been resident in Florida in the summer of 2001, he is known to have used more than a dozen aliases, and intelligence experts believe he could easily have slipped out of the US to visit Iraq.

Abu Nidal, who was responsible for the failed assassination of the Israeli ambassador to London in 1982, was based in Baghdad for more than two decades.

Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 2003.

Leading US politicians have called for a quick trial of Saddam Hussein, urging the White House to take the opportunity to mend divisions caused by the war and to internationalise the effort to quell unrest and build a democratic Iraq.

"This is the most significant event since the invasion of Iraq," Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, said on American ABC television.

"There is an opening, an opportunity here to do some of the things that we have been struggling to do," he said.

"This is a common interest of the world that this guy has been caught.

"The rest of the world, especially the Arab world, the Islamic world, we're going to need over there."

Senator John Kerry, a Democratic presidential candidate, says it is now possible to lift the burden on the US.

"It's a magnificent opportunity for the President of the United States to shift gears and reduce the burden for America, reduce the burden on our soldiers, and get the world involved," he said.

"Saddam and his sons are now really gone. This is an opportunity for the world to take a stake in the outcome in Iraq," Mr Kerry said.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, another Democrat running for president, said his capture was a moment "to bring in the international community to help us rebuild Iraq, ask NATO to join us in the peacekeeping".

But US politicians were sharply divided on where and how Saddam should stand trial for atrocities committed under his regime.

Senator Lieberman said Saddam should only stand trial in a tribunal with the power to impose the death penalty.

"This evil man has to face the death penalty. The international tribunal in the Hague cannot order the death penalty," he said on NBC television.

"If it can be done by the Iraqi military tribunal, fine. But if it cannot, he should be brought before an American military tribunal and face the death that he has brought to hundreds of thousands of his own people and 460-plus Americans."

Republican Senator John McCain called for holding a trial both in Iraq and the Hague.

He said Saddam should have "a trial in front of his people ... but also in front of the Hague so you can have an exposition of the crimes he's committed that transcended the borders of Iraq".

Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the US Foreign Relations Committee, said Saddam's trial should be modelled on the trial of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Whether the trial takes place in Iraq or the Hague, Mr Kerry said "the most important thing is that the United States of America shows the world how decently we treat even the worst criminal and the worst thug, how much we abide by rule of law, and how critical it is to have full accountability".

Senator Dick Lugar said the trial could be in an Iraqi tribunal but warned that the insurgency that has rocked the US-led occupation in Iraq would have to be reined in first.

"We better make sure that we are on the trail of a constitution building process or an Iraqi council that has confidence of Iraqis. In essence, we had best make certain that the underpinnings of this situation are very clear," he said on NBC.

Saddam's capture brought little hope for a speedy end to the increasingly bloody attacks in Iraq.

"He was one element of the resistance that they are facing. There are others," McCain said.

it will further boost Bush the Younger's electoral prospects.