DUBAI: Lawyers representing Saddam Hussain plan to sue the British tabloid that published intimate photos of the deposed Iraqi dictator, Doha-based Al Jazeera television reported yesterday, quoting the head of the defence team.
The photos in The Sun, one of which shows Saddam wearing only his underpants, are a “violation of human rights and in contravention of the Geneva Convention” on treatment of prisoners, Ziad Khassawneh was quoted as saying.
Khassawneh said his team would “pursue all the necessary legal steps to see to it that those who commit such base acts against any prisoner, and especially against president Saddam, are punished.”
“Analysis of the photos shows that they were taken inside the place where (Saddam) is being detained, he said, adding that their publication in The Sun “adds to a series of violations of the Iraqi people’s rights committed by the American administration.”
Under the headline ‘Tyrant’s in his pants’, The Sun ran a front-page photo of a bare-chested Saddam standing in white underwear and holding an item of clothing as he appeared to be getting dressed.
In the accompanying article, along with other intimate photographs of him, the mass-circulation daily quotes US military sources as saying they handed over the photos in the hope of dealing a body blow to the resistance in Iraq.
“Saddam is not superman or God, he is now just an ageing and humble old man. It’s important that the people of Iraq see him like that to destroy the myth,” the source was quoted as saying.
“Maybe that will kill a bit of the passion in the fanatics who still follow him,” the source said.
In Baghdad, a US military spokesman said the military was investigating the photos of Saddam to find out who took them and decide what kind of disciplinary action should be taken.
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said the photographs were believed to have been taken over a year ago.
“This is clearly something we wouldn’t condone, or would sanction, and it is troubling that images like this could make their way to the public when they shouldn’t,” the spokesman said. “That’s why they are looking at it.”
“The photos give you an indication of his condition and how he was being held, and from that they have been able to determine that they believe the photographs were taken some time ago – over a year ago,” the spokesman said.
By establishing when and how the pictures were taken, investigators hope to determine who had access to Saddam, he said.
He said it was unclear whether the pictures were taken with a still camera or were images from a surveillance video.
Al Jazeera said that it had chosen not to publish the photos for “professional and moral reasons.”
In contrast, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television showed an image of the Sun’s front page.
US tabloid newspaper, the New York Post, ran the same photo on its front page.
The intimate photo, along with three other pictures, were billed as an ‘exclusive’ borrowed from The Sun.
Both newspapers are owned by Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s planning minister has said Saddam, captured in late 2003 by US troops, could go on trial in a matter of months.
“In the new Iraq the judiciary is independent and the government truly has no influence in terms of deciding for the judiciary,” Minister of Planning Barham Saleh, said in Washington after meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“But the last time I met with the chiefs justice for the special tribunal that is in charge of prosecuting Saddam and the other people accused of warcrimes, they were telling me that in the next few months Saddam Hussain could be brought before the court.”
When asked about the publication of photographs in two newspapers showing Saddam halfnaked wearing only underwear, he said: “I saw the pictures, and I think we need to look into the situation and how the picture came out.” – AFP |
