Foreign lawyers to join Saddam defense team

[Judi Lynn]

Foreign lawyers to join Saddam defense team
Sun Nov 27, 2005 4:06 AM ET

AMMAN (Reuters) - A U.S. civil rights lawyer and a Qatar former justice minister said on Sunday they were heading to Baghdad to help defend Saddam Hussein and ensure he gets a fair trial.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ex-Qatari Justice Minister Najeeb al-Nauimi told Reuters in Amman they were heading to Baghdad to join chief Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi when proceedings resume on Monday for the first time since Saddam's trial began on October 19. The trial was postponed for 40 days to give the defense more time to prepare.

Saddam's defense team had sought to have foreign lawyers support their side. Washington has been under international pressure to ensure the former leader's legal rights are upheld.
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http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-27T090609Z_01_FOR732556_RTRUKOC_0_US-SADDAM-DEFENCE.xml

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1. Clark Arrives to Assist Saddam Defense

Iraqi police arrested eight Sunni Arabs in the northern city of Kirkuk for allegedly plotting to assassinate the investigating judge who prepared the case against Saddam Hussein, a senior police commander said Sunday. The announcement came as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Baghdad, airport officials said, apparently to aid in Saddam's defense.

Clark has been advising nearly a dozen international lawyers on Saddam's defense team. He has contended that Saddam's rights have been violated in the legal process following his capture. But a U.S. government official close to the court said the defense team had not filed the proper paperwork to have a non-Iraqi lawyer in the courtroom.

The men who were arrested for plotting to kill the judge were carrying a document from former top Saddam deputy Izzat al-Douri ordering them to kill Raed Juhi, said Col. Anwar Qadir, a police commander in Kirkuk, where the men were arrested Saturday.
Al-Douri is the highest ranking member of the Saddam regime still at large and is believed to be at least the symbolic leader of Saddam loyalists still fighting U.S. forces and the new government in
Iraq. The arrest came two days before Saddam's trial resumes after a five-week break.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq