BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhuanet) -- LONDON: The trial of Saddam Hussein will be fair, broadcast live on television and radio and be the "trial of the century," Iraq's new national security adviser said yesterday.

    Mouwafak al-Rubaie said the Iraqi Special Tribunal would be able to impose the death penalty, reported Thursday's China Daily.

    He said Saddam would not be allowed to turn the trial into a political game, by calling witnesses such as US President George W. Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

    "Saddam Hussein will be under the legal control of Iraqi law," he said. "He is going to be tried according to the Iraqi criminal code."

    French lawyer Emmanuel Ludot, one of a 20-strong team appointed by Saddam's wife to represent him, said the former president would refuse to acknowledge any court or any judge.

    "It will be a court of vengeance, a settling of scores," Ludot told France Info radio, saying any judge sitting in the court would be under pressure to find Saddam guilty.

    Asked what the Iraqi court would do if Saddam tried to call Blair as a witness, al-Rubaie answered: "We are not going to allow this to be a political showdown or a political game. We are going to restrict ourselves to the crimes."

    "He is going to try to make it a political showdown but we will not allow that to happen," he added.

    "As an Iraqi interim government we promise our people and the Arab world and the outside world that Saddam will stand a fair trial," he said. "This is going to be the trial of the century."

    The former president is to make his first court appearance today.

    Al-Rubaie said the handover would be televised. He said an Iraqi judge would read Saddam the accusations against him, "issue an arrest warrant and he will be handcuffed again and taken away under Iraqi legal custody."

    Al-Rubaie noted that the Coalition Provisional Authority had suspended the use of the death penalty.

    "Now we are back, an independent sovereign country, I think we will need to re-impose that penalty," he said. "The death penalty is going to be available to the court."

    The crimes against humanity for which Saddam is expected to be tried include the 1988 chemical weapons massacre of Kurds in Halabja, the slaughter of Shi'ites during a 1991 uprising in southern Iraq, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

    Iraqi prosecutors expect to indict Saddam Hussein on 12 counts of crimes against humanity related to military actions he ordered during nearly 24 years of rule.

    Saddam is expected to go on trial next year.

    Charges expected to be brought against him include:

    The use of chemical weapons in the 1988 attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja.

    The Anfal campaign of 1988 against the Kurds in the north.

    The killing of 5,000 members of the Barzani clan in 1963, to which Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani belongs.

    Iraq's 1990 invasion of its Gulf Arab neighbour Kuwait.

    Crimes related to Iraq's 1980-88 war with neighbouring Iran.

    Crimes related to Saddam's suppression of a Shi'ite uprising in southern Iraq after US-led forces drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in 1991.

    As Saddam's trial gathers the attention of the world, another less historic but still controversial issue remains: Prosecution of coalition troops.

    Al-Rubaie said the issue of immunity from prosecution for coalition forces in Iraq was a "hot political potato" which was still under discussion.

    "We are not going to allow a blanket immunity to be given to every foreigner in this country to do whatever they like to do in the country without being accountable to the Iraqi legal system," he said. "We have to work out these details with our partners through mutual understanding, through the spirit of partnership."

    A Foreign Office spokesman said the principle of immunity for the multinational force in Iraq was established in an exchange of letters with the new Iraqi government. However, if commanding officers believed their soldiers had acted inappropriately, they could decide to hand them over to Iraqi courts to face charges.

    Civilian contractors and private security firms wanting immunity would have to apply to a committee set up by the Iraqi trade and interior ministries. However, if the government of the country in which the company is headquartered decided the license holder had acted inappropriately, it could revoke the immunity, the Foreign Office said.

    Mortar attacks

    As a sovereign Iraq begins to consider issues of internal law, violence mounts.

    Insurgents fired six to 10 mortar rounds that landed north of Baghdad international airport yesterday, wounding six soldiers of the US-led force, a US military spokesman said.

    A bomb exploded in the southern town of Samawa, where Japanese and Dutch troops are deployed, but no one was badly hurt, witnesses said. The blast was not near the Japanese camp.

    In Najaf, Iraqi police announced an overnight curfew after fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with a police patrol. Witnesses said shops were closed and Sadr's Mehdi Army fighters were on the streets of the holy city in force.

    Spain won't send troops

    Spanish troops that withdrew from Iraq will not return but Spain is ready to help the war-ravaged Arab country in other fields, Spain's foreign minister said yesterday.

    Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos spoke to reporters after talks with his Lebanese counterpart, Jean Obeid, on developments in Iraq - two days after an interim Iraqi government took power - and the stalled Middle East peace process.

    "We discussed the situation in Iraq, where a new stage for the new government has begun. Spain supports this government, under which a stage of stability and liberation must begin," Moratinos said.

    He said he hoped the transfer of power from the US-led coalition to Iraqi Government would give the Iraqi people a great deal of "self-rule and sovereignty" and eventually lead them to "a full and just democracy."

    Spain, which completed the withdrawal of its 1,300 soldiers in May as ordered by the new Socialist government, will not participate in any military force in Iraq.

    "But we are ready to help in other fields," Moratinos said.

    Many Spanish voters saw Spain's troop presence as a motive in Madrid train bombings that killed 190 passengers and bystanders and was blamed on Islamic militants.

    Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council endorsed a multinational force as part of a plan to restore Iraqi sovereignty.

    Moratinos later held talks with President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

(China Daily)