Arab countries funding Saddam defence
Arab countries, including Libya, are contributing to a legal defence fund for toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a French lawyer said in Paris.
Emmanuel Ludot, the French lawyer serving as part of a 21-member legal team set up to defend Saddam, said that “diverse aid and diverse gifts” have already been donated.
He refused to specify how much money had been collected so far or reveal its origins, except to say that some Arab countries have contributed and that the daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had offered some financing.
Gaddafi’s eldest daughter, Aicha Muammar Gaddafi, “wanted to provide her logistic and financial aid”, Ludot said. “It’s Libyan money. It’s welcome.”
He said funds that Saddam is alleged to hold in overseas accounts also could be used in his defence.
“Our job is to have this money freed up … so that we can face all the expenses,” Ludot said at a news conference in Paris.
He reiterated earlier denunciations of the judges who are to try Saddam and predicted that, as things stand, the trial would be unfair.
The legal team is led by Jordanian lawyer Mohammed Rashdan, who says he was hired by Saddam’s wife Sajida and two daughters. Ludot said Saddam should choose his own lawyers, but he has been barred from any contact with the outside world.
Saddam was formally handed over to the interim Iraqi government last Thursday.
