Judge: Saddam's morale collapsing due to charges

BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein's morale has plummeted due to the gravity of the war crimes charges he faces, according to the judge trying him, while U.S. and Iraqi forces have arrested an Iraqi regarded as a top terrorist leader in northern Iraq.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers also kept up their pressure against suspected insurgents south of Baghdad, with more than 800 troops, mainly Iraqis, cordoning off districts in the so called Triangle of Death area.

The U.S. military believes insurgents behind almost daily deadly attacks in Baghdad use districts on its southern edge as staging areas.

"For two years, I have been suffering from these terrorists, now it is my time," Brigadier General Mohammed Essa Baher, an Iraqi army commander from the region whose two sons have been killed by insurgents, said on the eve of yesterday's offensive.

Eight people died from attacks around the country Friday, bringing to at least 830 the number killed since the Shi'ite-led government took office on April 28.

In northern Iraqi city of Irbil, Kurdistan's 111-member regional assembly yesterday opened its first session since the January 30 national elections that swept long-oppressed Shi'ites and Kurds to power. The session is expected to deal with the future of oil-rich Kirkuk, the drafting of the national constitution and relations with the central government in Baghdad.

The parliament is also expected to elect a president for the Kurdish federal region, which encompasses Iraq's northern provinces. Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, was widely expected to get the post.

Barzani's election to the post is widely seen as a trade-off for his supporting Jalal Talabani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party, in his successful bid to become president.

The man leading the trial against Saddam, Raid Juhi, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that the ousted president and some of the 11 other detained former regime figures are facing "12 cases" carrying punishments running from life in jail to the death penalty.

"The ousted president has suffered a collapse in his morale because he understands the extent of the charges against him and because he's certain that he will stand trial before an impartial court," Juhi said.

Saddam, who is being held in a U.S.-run detention facility in Baghdad, was captured in December 2003 and faces charges of killing rival politicians during his 30-year rule, gassing Kurds, invading Kuwait and suppressing Kurdish and Shi'ite uprisings in 1991.

No date has been set for the start of Saddam's trial, but Juhi reiterated comments made last week by President Jalal Talabani that the former dictator was expected to face the tribunal within two months. Juhi said Saddam will be tried alone in some case and alongside other detainees in other cases.

Saddam's lawyer, Khalil al-Duleimi, rejected Juhi's comments, saying that his client was in high spirits and that he was unaware of the 12 cases the judge had mentioned. "The last time I met Saddam was in late April and his spirits were very high," al-Duleimi said.

A terrorism suspect known as Mullah Mahdi was detained early yesterday along with his brother, three other Iraqis and a non-Iraqi Arab national in eastern Mosul province, 360 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, Iraqi army Major General Khalil Ahmed al-Obeidi said.

Mullah Mahdi is suspected of affiliation with the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, one of Iraq's most feared terrorist groups, and had links to the Syrian intelligence service.

"He was wanted for almost all car bombs, assassinations of high officials, beheadings of Iraqi policemen and soldiers and for launching attacks against Multi-National Forces," al-Obeidi said.

On Friday, the Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni group with ties to some insurgents, called for an end to a weeklong counterinsurgency offensive in Baghdad, saying it overwhelmingly targets members of their religious minority and has led to the detention of hundreds of people.

The interior minister has said at least 700 suspected insurgents have been rounded up in the sweep, known as Operation Lightning.