Saddam verdict date 'rigged' for Bush

[razors edge]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10409222

Sunday November 5, 2006

Saddam Hussein's defence team has urged a delay of his possible death sentence and said the ousted Iraqi leader believed today's expected verdict was timed to boost President George Bush before US mid-term elections.

Saddam's lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi repeated warnings that a death sentence against his client - which would come before Tuesday's US Congressional elections at a time when Bush faces mounting criticism over the Iraq war - would plunge the region into wider bloodshed.

"We have requested at least a two-month adjournment to allow us to complete our presentations in the case in which our defence rights have been violated and in which our clients have been denied full legal defence," he said. US officials deny that Washington has any say over the timing of the verdict or the court's decisions, saying the American role was limited to logistics and security.


"This court is a creature of the US military occupation, and the Iraqi court is just a tool and rubber stamp of the invaders," insisted Dulaimi.