International   

Saddam alleges torture in custody

Atul Aneja

Former Iraqi President calls Bush a liar

DUBAI: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has denounced American denials that he had been beaten up in their custody as "lies" and buttressed his assertion by saying that the Americans had also not spoken the truth about the presence of chemical weapons in Iraq.

On Wednesday, Mr. Hussein told the court trying him and seven co-defendants for crimes against humanity that the Americans had beaten him up "everywhere" after they had captured him two years ago. Washington has strongly denied the charge.

But on Thursday, Mr. Hussein amplified on his allegation when the Chief Judge gave him time to cross-examine witnesses. He claimed that two American teams had documented the wounds that he had suffered while in custody. He said the American denials could not be believed as their claim that Iraq was developing chemical weapons prior to the invasion was also not true. "Zionists and Americans, I mean officials, hate Saddam Hussein. The man in the White House is a liar. He said there are chemical weapons in Iraq," Mr. Hussein said. "He later said, `We did not find anything in Iraq.' "

Mr. Hussein has been facing specific charges connected to the deaths of 148 persons in the mainly Shia village of Dujail in 1982, following a failed assassination attempt on his life. The first witness on Thursday alleged that he was eight years old when members of his family were arrested and tortured following the assassination attempt. He said the male members had disappeared, implying that they had been killed.

Mr. Hussein countered the allegation by saying that the court could not accept the testimony of a witness who was a minor at the time of the alleged crime. The witness then told a member of the defence team that he had not been detained nor had he seen any dead bodies. "When I hear that any Iraqi has been hurt it hurts me too," he said. "The wrongs that were done to those people were wrong and, those who did it should get what they deserve."

Poll irregularities alleged

In related developments, Sunni Arab and secular parties in Iraq have alleged that there were irregularities in last week's elections, and have threatened to boycott Parliament unless corrective action was taken.

The two groups formed a united front to air their grievances following their meeting in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Final results would emerge only in January, but the trend shows that the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) — a Shia grouping and the Kurdish Alliance has performed impressively in the December 15 poll.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

LTTE attacks Navy boats
Erdogan refutes criticism on Pamuk trial
Alaskan oil plan stalled
Saddam alleges torture in custody
Doubts over bird flu drug
`Famous Five' tops favourite books poll
The Internet gets a sixth sense
Mexican teacher retires at 102
Forum launched in Colombo
Pakistan to build big dams

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu