Hamashi Insists on Overseeing Trial

Judge Saeed al-Hamashi has insisted on chairing the next session of the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and seven of his deputies. (They are accused of killing 148 men in the village of Djail in 1982. Hamashi is a member of Iraq's de-Ba'athification committee, which is investigating, and trying former Ba'athists.) He said some elements inside and outside of the Iraqi Special Tribunal were trying to delay the court's sessions and that they put pressure on the court for their private interests. He maintained that (despite recent accusations that he is a former Ba'athist,) he had no ties the Ba'ath Party or any other political party, and that the accusation was nothing but a lie. Hamashi said some people did not want him involved in the trial because he is fair and decent. Chief special tribunal judge Raid Joohi, who chairs the investigation board, said Hamashi will oversee the tribunal's next session and that it rejects the de-Ba'athification board's recommendation that Hamashi not serve.