Saddam relative said claims to reject deal (AP) Updated: 2005-12-27 09:05
Two lawyers for Saddam Hussein said Monday that the former Iraqi president's
half brother claims U.S. officials offered him a ranking government position in
Iraq if he testified against Saddam but he rejected a deal.
Barazan Ibrahim purportedly made the claim Thursday during a closed-door
hearing by the Higher Iraqi Tribunal, which is hearing war crimes charges
against Saddam, Ibrahim and six other former officials.
American officials could not be reached for comment Monday, which was a U.S.
holiday.
In Baghdad, Chief Prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi said he could speak only about
the closed court hearing and said there was no attempt to cut a deal with
Ibrahim then. He declined to discuss what was said at the session.
The report first appeared in an interview with Saddam's chief Iraqi lawyer,
Khalil al-Dulaimi, that was published Monday in the independent Jordanian
newspaper Al Arab Al Yawm.
Another Saddam lawyer later gave a similar account to The Associated Press,
speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give details
of the closed session.
Dulaimi, who is in Baghdad, and the second lawyer said they were present in
the courtroom when Ibrahim made his claim.
According to Dulaimi, Ibrahim told the court that the "Americans had offered
me a senior political post in return for testifying against the president."
Dulaimi said Ibrahim did not elaborate on which post, but said he refused the
offer.
Ibrahim was captured in April 2003 shortly after U.S. troops took Baghdad.
Saddam and his seven co-defendants are on trial for the deaths of more than
140 Shiite Muslims after an assassination attempt on him in the town of Dujail
in 1982. The trial is set to resume on Jan. 24.
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