US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4779

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004779 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KJUS, KCRM, KDEM, IZ, Saddam Hussein 
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS APPLY TO REPRESENT SADAAM 
HUSSEIN 
 
 
Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION DAVID M. SATTERFIELD 
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (S) SUMMARY: Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey 
Clark, Issam al-Ghazzawi (Jordan), and Dr. Najeeb Al- 
Noaimi (Qatar) are seeking to join the defense team of 
Saddam Hussein in the Ad Dujayl trial now in front of 
the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT).  The principal Iraqi 
attorney for Saddam Hussein, Kaleel al-Dolami, 
sponsored their applications to join the team in open 
court on November 28.  The Regime Crimes Liaison 
Office (RCLO) expects that the IHT will formally admit 
these three lawyers on December 5 after it reviews the 
submitted paperwork.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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ARRIVAL IN BAGHDAD 
------------------- 
 
2. (S) On August 24, Saddam Hussein affirmed that he 
had fired all of his attorneys (including any non- 
Iraqi lawyers working on the case) except his 
principal Iraqi attorney, Kaleel al-Dolami. 
Notwithstanding this affirmation, on November 23, 
Ramsey Clark sent the IHT a set of letters (dated 
November 22) requesting that the IHT admit him, Mr. 
Ghazzawi, and Dr. Al-Noaimi as defense lawyers in the 
ongoing Ad Dujayl trial.  The request was unclear in 
that Mr. Clark stated that he wished to represent 
Kaleel al-Dolami on security matters as opposed to 
representing a particular defendant. 
 
3. (S) On November 23, the IHT sent an email to Mr. 
Clark (through Dr. Curtis Doebbler, a U.S. human 
rights attorney who has represented the Taliban and 
other notorious figures) affirming that "in principal" 
a meeting between the IHT and the international 
lawyers could occur on November 26.  The email 
stipulated, however, that, before any meeting could 
take place, the lawyers had to clarify who are their 
clients and what are the issues they seek to discuss; 
the lawyers also would have to submit the appropriate 
paperwork for admission to the IHT.  The non-Iraqi 
defense attorneys did not respond substantively to 
this email.  Instead, they confirmed that they would 
appear in Iraq on November 26 and immediately booked 
plane tickets to Baghdad.  Through Dr. Doebbler, the 
lawyers contacted the RCLO and demanded security 
arrangements.  The IHT and the RCLO sent several 
communications (by email and telephone) to Mr. Clark, 
repeating the IHT's position that it would not meet 
with the lawyers unless Mr. al-Dolami filed the 
appropriate paperwork on their behalf for admission to 
practice before the Tribunal.  Moreover, the IHT and 
the RCLO advised that neither body would provide 
security for the lawyers absent their formal 
admission. 
 
4. (S) Despite these warnings, Mr. Clark, Mr. al- 
Ghazzawi, and Dr. Al-Noaimi arrived in Iraq on 
November 26.  The RCLO secured transport to the IZ for 
the attorneys and arranged for their housing at the 
Al-Rasheed hotel.  Despite the fact that Mr. Clark had 
ignored the IHT's and the RCLO's warnings not to come 
to Baghdad until the lawyers had been admitted to the 
court and security had been arranged, RCLO provided 
security to the three lawyers in the form of secure 
transportation and housing. 
 
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Proceedings Before the Court 
---------------------------- 
 
5. (S) Upon arriving in Iraq, the RCLO made sure that 
each non-Iraqi lawyer underwent a security screening 
to allow their entry to the IHT.  Chief Judge of the 
Ad Dujayl trial chamber, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, invoked 
Article 19(4) of the IHT Statute and stated that the 
three attorneys were entitled to represent Saddam 
Hussein if: Saddam submitted a written power of 
attorney to the Tribunal; each attorney submitted 
proof that his law license was valid; and Mr. al- 
Dolami submitted a request for their admittance on 
behalf of Saddam.  RCLO attorneys communicated this 
advice to the three non-Iraqi lawyers. 
 
6. (S) Dr. Al-Noami and Mr. Al-Ghazzai each carried 
with them valid bar identification cards from their 
home countries.  Mr. Clark brought a copy of his 
admittance to the U.S. Supreme Court but failed to 
provide a certificate of good standing from New York 
or Washington, DC, the two state bars in which he 
claims membership.  Each lawyer also presented a copy 
of a power of attorney which Saddam Hussein previously 
had granted to them at the request of Mr. al-Dolami. 
Mr. al-Dolami submitted the documents to Judge Rizgar 
in open court on November 28 after Saddam Hussein 
affirmed in original ink that he was requesting the 
assistance of these attorneys.  Judge Rizgar granted 
the lawyers' application to appear before the Court 
and allowed them to sit in court on November 28 even 
though the IHT had not yet formally admitted them. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Experience of International Lawyers 
----------------------------------- 
7. (U) William Ramsey Clark is a well-known civil 
rights lawyer and activist.  He served in the U.S. 
Marine Corps in 1945-46 and earned a law degree from 
the University of Chicago in 1950.  He worked at the 
law firm of Clark, Reed, and Clark from 1951 to 1961 
until his appointment as Assistant Attorney General of 
the Lands Division (1961-1965) and Deputy Attorney 
General (1965-1967) of the U.S.  In 1967, President 
Johnson appointed Mr. Clark to the position of U.S. 
Attorney General.  He served in that capacity until 
1969.  Following his term as Attorney General, Mr. 
Clark worked as a law professor and was active in the 
anti-Vietnam War movement.  He also has provided legal 
advice to many controversial figures including 
Slobodan Milosevic, Charles Taylor from Liberia, and 
Branch Davidian leader David Koresh.  Not an expert in 
international law, he is expected to serve as a 
figurehead for the defense team. 
 
8. (S) Dr. Najeeb Al-Noaimi is the former Minister of 
Justice of Qatar and an expert in public international 
law.  According to Dr. Al-Noami, he has litigated 
before the International Court of Justice, having 
served as an agent in the Advisory Opinion on the 
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons Case. 
He also served as a legal adviser to the International 
Criminal Court.  According to Dr. Al-Noami's website, 
he graduated from Alexandria University in 1981 and 
received a Ph.D. in international law from Dundee 
University in the U.K. in 1987. 
 
9. (S) Issam M. Al-Ghazzawi is a Jordanian lawyer who 
has served on the defense team of Saddam Hussein for 
several years.  His bar registry number is 2963 and is 
valid until December 31, 2005. 
 
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Future Arrangements for International Defense Lawyers 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
10. (S) The lawyers have informed the RCLO that they 
and Kaleel al-Dolami intend to depart Iraq on November 
29, and the RCLO has agreed to provide them secure 
transport from the Al-Rasheed Hotel to Baghdad 
International Airport. 
 
11. (S) The trial will resume on December 5.  RCLO has 
asked the lawyers to give advance notice of their 
return trip plans in order to prepare their security. 
The three lawyers will be provided security similar to 
that offered to other defense counsel in the case. 
All accommodations for Mr. Clark result from his 
participation in the case, rather than from his former 
position with the United States. 
KHALILZAD