Trying Times for Saddam

[darrels joy]

Trying Times for Saddam
"Iraqi leaders have set up a tribunal of judges and prosecutors to try ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and other members of his Baathist regime," the Associated Press reports from Baghdad. Leading the panel is Salem Chalabi, whose uncle Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, is a longtime advocate for freedom in Iraq.

INC spokesman Entefadh Qanbar says, in the AP's words, that "the tribunal will be an Iraqi court, not an international body, and will rely on a mix of Iraqi criminal law, international regulations such as the Geneva Convention and experiences of bodies such as the Rwanda war crimes tribunal." It would seem a significant advance toward Iraqi self-government.

Hey, whatever happened to Saddam anyway? The German news agency DPA tells us he's still in an undisclosed location not of his choosing. The erstwhile dictator is in solitary confinement, the paper reports. He is "writing daily, always demanding pens and paper." Oh, and "he still thinks he is the president." Even Al Gore got over that.