BRUSSELS, 22 June 2005 — Iraq’s justice minister yesterday accused the United States of trying to delay Iraqi efforts to interrogate Saddam Hussein, saying “it seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide.”
Justice Minister Abdel Hussein Shandal also told The Associated Press he was confident that Saddam’s trial on war crimes charges would begin by the end of the year.
“This trial will be accomplished within 2005 — and this will only be in Iraqi courts,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of an international conference on his country’s future.
The US Embassy in Baghdad said in a statement yesterday that “Iraq has an independent judiciary that investigates and tries crimes according to Iraqi law. This is an Iraqi process run by the Iraqis, and the United States supports that process.”
Shandal later acknowledged he had no say in the timing of the trial. But he reiterated his confidence that the investigation would be completed by the end of the year.
The Americans privately have urged caution about rushing into a trial, saying the Iraqis need to develop a good court and judicial system.
An official at the press office of the Iraqi Special Tribunal that is overseeing the court proceedings in Baghdad stressed it was an independent body and was not bound by the minister’s comments. He said no date had been set for Saddam’s trial.
“The interrogation of Saddam is taking place regularly and almost daily and neither the justice minister, nor the Americans, have anything to do with it because the IST is an independent court,” the official said.
But Shandal alleged that US officials deliberately are trying to limit access to Saddam because they have their own secrets to protect, including funneling money and support to Iraqi leader during his rule.
“It seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide,” Shandal said. “There should be transparency and there should be frankness, but there are secrets that if revealed, won’t be in the interest of many countries,” he said. “Who was helping Saddam all those years?”
