Three Jordanian lawyers who claim to represent Saddam Hussein left Monday for Libya to enlist attorneys there for the defense team.
Ziad al-Khasawneh told The Associated Press the two-day visit also was aimed at "coordinating President Saddam's defense strategy with the daughter of the Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi."
Aisha Moammar Gadhafi, a law professor in her late 20s, told the lawyers Friday that she was joining the Jordan-based defense team. She will also form a Libyan team of legal experts to help in the defense, said al-Khasawneh.
The group includes lawyers from Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Western countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Belgium.
Al-Khasawneh said he was accompanied by defense team chief Mohammed Rashdan and fellow lawyer Hatem Shaheen.
Al-Khasawneh said the Jordanian lawyers received a telephone call Saturday from Salem Chalabi, general director of the Iraqi court, telling them non-Iraqi lawyers will not be allowed to defend Saddam.
"We told him he was wrong and that he must read the regulations of the Iraqi Bar Association which allows Arabs to represent defendants in Iraqi courts," al-Khasawneh conveyed. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
