Iraqi Planners Hope to Start Trial by Spring

Only days after the capture of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Iraqi leaders have already begun planning for his legal prosecution in an Iraqi courtroom. Vowing to choose only a manageable number of charges to bring against the former dictator, Salem Chalabi said the process would not be rushed, but that the trial could begin as early as the spring of 2004. "We don't want to try him for every offense, because that could take years," Chalabi said. But whether the US will be ready to give over custody of Saddam by next spring is uncertain. Washington is expected to want to interrogate him for as long as needed to get information about his weapons of mass destruction program any links his government may have had with terrorist organizations. Another concern voiced by international nongovernmental organizations is that the Iraqi court system is not yet ready to handle such a high-profile case with fairness or under internationally accepted judicial norms. – YaleGlobal