BAGHDAD, 20 September 2006 — Iraq’s Shiite-led Cabinet yesterday removed the chief judge in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein, accusing him of being biased toward the defendant, a government spokesman said. “I can confirm he has been removed,” spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh told AFP. “The government of Iraq feels the judge is no longer neutral as could be seen when he described Saddam Hussein as not being a ‘dictator’,” the spokesman said.
Judge Abdullah Al-Ameri had come under fire for making a statement that Saddam was not a “dictator” during a friendly exchange with the former Iraqi strongman at a hearing on Sept. 14. Dabbagh added that the decision to remove Ameri was taken because there had “been a big uprising from the people, who feel that there is no longer any neutrality for the victims.” He said the law that established the High Tribunal empowers the cabinet with the “responsibility ... to transfer any judge or prosecutor to the high judicial commission” if they are not fulfilling their duty.
State television reported that the high tribunal trying Saddam had asked the Iraqi cabinet to replace Ameri. “The Cabinet, following a request from the president of the Iraqi High Tribunal, has recommended the transfer of Judge Abdullah Al-Ameri to higher judicial council,” said Al-Iraqiya, citing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s office.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Parliament again delayed yesterday debate of a divisive bill on federalism after a fresh wave of violence killed 50 people and the United Nations warned that Iraq could descend into civil war. In Baghdad, where US commanders are expecting an increase of violence by Al-Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups ahead of the start of Ramadan next week, a car bomb killed two people and wounded 24 near a factory to fill gas canisters.
During a heated session that drew some calls for reviewing the presence of US-led troops, a senior Shiite lawmaker demanded that the Interior and Defense ministers take urgent steps to stop bloodshed and avert all-out communal war. “Every day corpses are being dumped across Baghdad and we are sitting here watching,” said Haider Al-Abaadi, a member of the Shiite bloc that has a majority in the 275-seat chamber.
“There is no evidence that shows that the minister of defense or the minister of interior are doing anything to stop this toll,” he said, suggesting fissures in the ruling coalition as Maliki fails to halt violence.
