Opposition groups vow to bring Saddam to justice

Saddam Hussein and leading members of his government will be brought to justice following any regime change in Iraq, opposition leaders pledged yesterday.

Delegates at a London conference discussing a post-Saddam Iraq said they had so far identified 37 “targets” for possible legal action. However, the opposition groups, made up of members of political, ethnic, and religious representatives, revealed that they were also keen for a “general amnesty” on security and other personnel who were carrying out orders. Speaking on the second day of the discussions, Hamid Al-Bayati, a representative of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said they had 12 “category A targets” including Saddam, his two sons, two half-brothers and the deputy prime-minister Tariq Aziz.

“Category B targets” were made up of “top people” from Saddam’s ruling Ba’ath party. “If Saddam is captured inside the country, he will be tried internally in Iraq,” Mr Al-Bayati said.

“If he flees the country, which we fear he might, there should be an international tribunal.” But he added: “We believe we should have some reconciliation, a general amnesty inside Iraq. You can’t hold

every soldier and policeman responsible for Saddam’s regime.”

At the London talks, which are due to conclude todayone of the topics being discussed was the establishment of an independent judicial system under which ordinary Iraqis could seek redress for the injustices of Saddam’s regime.

The proposals have the backing of Indict, a British non-governmental organisation (NGO). Peter Galbraith, a former US ambassador to Croatia and a member of Indict, said any international criminal tribunal should be set up along the lines of those created after the conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Delegates were also formulating a co-ordinated committee of Iraqi opposition groups and a consensus for the future running of the country after Saddam’s removal. UN inspectors hunting for suspected banned weapons of mass destruction yesterdayvisited a missile plant south of Baghdad that has aroused US suspicions.

The site was one of three the inspection team visited, according to a statement