BAGHDAD, 6 June 2005 — Iraq said yesterday it would bring only 12 charges of crimes against humanity against former President Saddam Hussein even though there were more than 500 possible cases.
A date has not been set for the trial of Saddam, who has been held in a US-run prison in Baghdad since being captured in December 2003. But a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said the government was confident it would begin within the next two months.
“There should be no objection that a trial should take place within that time,” spokesman Laith Kuba said at a news conference. “It is the government’s view that the trial of Saddam should take place as soon as possible.”
Kuba said prosecutors have narrowed their case against Saddam to focus on 12 charges, including the gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja, where an estimated 5,000 people were killed and another 10,000 injured on March 16, 1988.
Saddam could face more than 500 charges, but “there is no reason behind wasting efforts on all 500,” Kuba said. “The number of charges on which he will be tried are 12 and the (investigating) judges are confident that he will be convicted of these charges.”
Issam Ghazawi, a Jordan-based spokesman for Saddam’s legal team, criticized Kuba’s comments, saying: “It’s illegal to issue charges against the Iraqi president this way.”
“The appropriate channel is for the accusations to come through the court and for the lawyers to receive a copy of the indictment,” he added.
Kuba did not list all 12 charges, but Saddam was arraigned July 1 in Baghdad on broad charges including the poisonous bombing of Halabja, killing rival politicians during his 30-year rule, invading Kuwait in 1990 and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in 1991.
Separately, the US military said US troops had discovered a huge insurgent bunker complex dug into a quarry in western Iraq, with air conditioning, showers and a large stockpile of weapons.
The Marines said the complex was 170 meters wide and 275 meters long, making it one of the biggest insurgent hideouts discovered in Iraq. They said nobody was in the bunker when it was found.
“Within the various rooms making up the facility, Iraqi security and coalition forces discovered four fully furnished living spaces, a kitchen with fresh food, two shower facilities and a working air conditioner,” said Capt. Jeffrey Pool of the 2nd Marine Division.
“In one portion of this insurgent lair, coalition forces and Iraqi security forces found numerous types of machine guns, ordnance including mortars, rockets and artillery rounds, black uniforms, ski masks, compasses, log books, night vision goggles, and fully charged cell phones.”
The bunker system was close to the town of Karma near Fallujah, around 50 km west of Baghdad.
The western Anbar province is the area of Iraq where the insurgency is strongest — more US troops have been killed there than in any other province. Most of the province is desert, and the overwhelmingly Sunni population is concentrated mainly in towns along the Euphrates River.
The US military says Al-Qaeda’s network in Iraq brings weapons, cash and foreign Arab fighters into the country through the western border with Syria. Foreign suicide bombers stay in a succession of safe houses in Anbar on their way to launch attacks, officers say.
— Additional input from agencies
