US 'keeping Saddam isolated'

TOKYO - A lawyer for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has accused the United States of keeping him isolated in a small cell and refusing to let him meet his legal advisers or even family members.

Ziad Khasawneh, a Jordanian lawyer who is the spokesman for Saddam's defence team, said the former Iraqi leader has not been allowed to meet his lawyers since an Iraqi member of the defence team met the ousted leader in December.

"President Saddam is isolated ... and he is now in a very small cell and he is not allowed to meet either his attorneys nor his family members despite repeated requests," Khasawneh told a news conference in Tokyo.

Saddam, held at a US military facility near Baghdad airport, is in good health but has been cut off from news about Iraq, said Khasawneh, who was appointed by Saddam's wife Sajida Khairallah to defend her husband.

"He doesn't have any TV or radio and he is not allowed to read newspapers. He knows nothing about what is going on in Iraq and the world," Khasawneh said.

Khasawneh, visiting Japan at the invitation of a Japanese civic group, said a special tribunal set up in Iraq to try leaders of the former regime was not established properly according to international law and was not equipped to conduct a fair trial.

"This court does not meet the specification to be a court that can afford a fair trial," he said.

The lack of security in Iraq has made it difficult for defence lawyers to prepare for trial and the judge appointed for the tribunal lacks sufficient experience, Khasawneh said.

His comments came after the tribunal said on Monday that five defendants, including one of Saddam's half-brothers, would soon face trial for crimes against humanity.

Twelve top officials, including Saddam and his most senior advisers, are expected to be the biggest names to be brought before the tribunal.

No date has been set for when the trials will begin.

It is unclear when Saddam will appear in court, although he did briefly appear before a judge last July to be informed generally of the charges he could face.

Saddam, 67, was captured by US troops on December 13, 2003, as he hid in a hole in the ground near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq.

After being allowed the meeting in December, Saddam appealed to Iraqis from his prison cell to unite against what he called US efforts to sow sectarian divisions, his lawyers said.

Saddam relayed his messages through Khalil Dulaimi, an Iraqi lawyer. Khasawneh had told reporters after that meeting that Saddam "urged the unity of his Iraqi people, regardless of their religious and ethnic creed, to confront US plans to divide their country on sectarian grounds".

The Iraqi special tribunal was set up in December 2003 by US and Iraqi authorities to try former members of the Baathist regime for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and other related violations during its more than 30 years in power.

- REUTERS