Saddam into Iraqi hands as Marjaiyah calls for quick trial; Thousands of ex-US army men recalled

By: Mohamed Ali

WASHINGTON: Iraq's interim government on Wednesday took legal custody of former president Saddam Hussein and 11 of his top lieutenants from the US-led military, in a first step toward the ousted dictator's expected trial for crimes against humanity, as Najaf Hawzah urged for speeding up the trial.

In a one-line announcement, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office said the Iraqi government assumed legal — but not physical — control “today, 30th June, at 10:15 in the morning.”

Local TV Al- Iraqia said Saddam will be charged by the Special Iraqi Tribunal on Thursday, a day after transferring into Iraqi legal custody.

Salem Chalabi, the director of the Special Tribunal that will conduct the trials, said he met Saddam “earlier today to explain his rights and what will happen.”

Saddam will remain in a US-controlled jail guarded by Americans until the Iraqis are ready to take physical custody of him. That is expected to take a long time.

However, the legal transfer means that Saddam and the others are no longer prisoners of war — subject to rights under the Geneva Conventions — but criminal defendants whose treatment will be in accordance with Iraqi law. The change in status gives them the right to attorneys.

In another development, the US Army, for the first time in more than a decade, is forcing thousands of former soldiers back into uniform, a reflection of the strain on the service of long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Army officials said Tuesday that about 5,600 former soldiers — mostly people who recently left the service and have up-to-date skills in military policing, engineering, logistics, medicine or transportation — will be assigned to National Guard and Reserve units starting in July. Many of them will find themselves in Iraq by the end of the year.

END