Saddam Hussein's defence team interview

(20 Dec 2004)

1. Wide shot of news conference
2. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ziad al-Khasawneh, Jordanian lawyer, Spokesman for Saddam Hussein's defence committee:
"The meeting was under heavy security and it lasted for four and a half hours. The president demanded the defence of all the detainees and the victims of the criminal aggression (the invasion of iraq) . He asked about the whole situation in Iraq. And the situation for the Iraqi people. He also asked about the Palestinian situation. He then read a verse from the Koran, "if God makes you victorious nobody can defeat you." The president insisted that the committee keep in touch with the popular organisation (of the Ba'ath party) and governmental institutions. He appreciated the support of France and Germany for Iraq, and for Spain pulling their troops out of Iraq."
3. Wide shot of news conference
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Issam Ghazawi, Jordanian Lawyer, Member of Saddam Hussein's defence committee:
"He is well, in good health, very good health and he is treated nicely by the Americans. He eats regularly, every food but, of course, he is not treated as regulations, international agreements, he was supposed to be treated as president, an equal to President Bush. But his spirits are high and he understands every free man and woman on this earth is supporting the just cause of the defence of Iraq."
5. Journalist
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Issam Ghazawi, Jordanian Lawyer, Member of Saddam Hussein's defence committee:
"It is a dangerous position because he (Khalil al-Duleimi - the lawyer meeting with Saddam Hussein) was threatened many times and attempted murder was committed against him, his car is full of holes from bullets and his tribe usually give him the security he needs but (he has) no official security."
7. Journalists
8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ziad al-Khasawneh, Jordanian lawyer, Spokesman for Saddam's defence committee:
"The president, Saddam Hussein, assures us that he is still the official president of Iraq according to the law and the Iraqi national assembly and his government is the legitimate one. As Kofi Annan has announced, the invasion has no legal basis and is against human rights. We believe in the law so that is why the (upcoming) elections are illegal. The security council resolution chapter 7 is cancelled by Kofi Annan's statement when he denied the existence of weapons of mass destruction and there is no justification for the invasion and the occupation."
9. Wide shot of news conference

STORYLINE:

From his prison cell, ousted Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, urged his compatriots to remain united against the US occupation and warned of the potential dangers of the upcoming elections, his lawyers said on Sunday.

Iraqi lawyer Khalil al-Duleimi, met with Saddam on Thursday, the first meeting since Saddam was captured a year ago.

Al-Duleimi said the deposed leader was in good health and his morale was high, according to Ziad al-Khasawneh, who heads Saddam's legal team.

Al-Khasawneh told reporters that Saddam was being kept in a three-by-five-metre cell "which lacks any information medium or connection with the outside world."

Al-Khasawneh said the meeting with Saddam lasted four-and-a-half hours and took place under heavy security.

He said Saddam asked about the situation in Iraq and read a verse from the Koran.



The legal team, which includes 20 lead lawyers and 1,500 volunteers from various countries, comprises lawyers who regularly take on high-profile cases and Arab nationalists who sympathise with Saddam's deposed Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party.













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