STOCKHOLM, June 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein prefers a trial in Sweden, one of his defense lawyers, Giovanni di Stefano, said in an interview with a Swedish TV station on Sunday.

    Di Stefano said Saddam wants a trial in the West. "I would favor Sweden more than any other country -- where we are likely, more than not, a) to obtain a fair trial, and b) in the unlikely event that our client is tried and convicted, he can go straight to a detention center in Sweden," said the lawyer.

    The former Iraqi leader has been in custody by the US military since his capture one and a half years ago in north Iraq. An Iraqi Special Tribunal is making preparations for the trials of Saddam and other senior members of the former regime.

    Di Stefano, one of the defense team hired by Saddam's family, stressed that the United Nations acknowledged the Iraqi Constitution in 1969 under which Iraqi courts have no rights to file a lawsuit against former leader Saddam.

    "The president of Iraq has confirmed to us he will be signing no warrant of execution as would be required under Iraqi law," he added. Enditem