The Hindu : Saddam's status could change: Rumsfeld

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 15, 2004

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International

Saddam's status could change: Rumsfeld

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JAN. 14. The U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has said that the status of the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, who is classified as an enemy prisoner of war, could change and more than once. At a Pentagon briefing, he said Mr. Hussein may have to be tried for crimes committed against the people of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait.

"...he has a potential to be prosecuted for activities against the Iraqi people.

He has the potential to be prosecuted for his actions against the Kuwaiti people. He has a potential to be prosecuted...for his actions against the Iranian people, where he used gas".

"He is a military person, an enemy prisoner of war for the period up to May 1. And he has the potential of being prosecuted for activities after May 1 involving the insurgency and the killing of coalition troops," the Defence Secretary said.

Mr. Rumsfeld also said that a military trial for Mr. Hussein was at the "lower end of the probability range" for the reason that the U.S. President, George W Bush, was clear that he wanted the people of Iraq to be `engaged' in the prosecution.

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