JEDDAH, 27 December 2003 — Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, now being grilled by American investigators, has reportedly warned US authorities that he will expose Washington’s “political games” and its behind-the-scene role in the occupation of Kuwait.
“Saddam threatened that if they continue to pressure him he will reveal startling facts — about America’s political games with his country — that would shock the whole world,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted a high-level European source as saying.
The source said Saddam had stopped answering the investigators’ questions and asked them to “give him enough time to clear his mind.” He did not elaborate further, the source added.
The source confirmed that the investigators approached Saddam with a list of Iraqi scientists involved in the development of weapons of mass destruction but Saddam told them that they were developing nuclear and chemical technology for civilian purposes, the paper said.
According to the European source close to US investigators, Saddam also said that he would ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to try the United States for its crimes against the Iraqi people for allegedly using internationally prohibited weapons against the Iraqis during the last two wars against his country.
“If the Americans want to try me in a court of law, they should also try high-ranking international officials,” the source quoted the former Iraqi dictator as saying. Saddam has insisted that his statements are recorded verbatim, the paper said. The source said Saddam neither prayed not read the Qur’an, it added.
