Khalil al-Duleimi

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Khalil al-Duleimi was one of 22 lawyers representing Saddam Hussein at his trial, and the only one based in Iraq. When Saddam's legal team learned that Saddam was to be interrogated, they requested the presence of a lawyer. al-Duleimi represented Saddam, and told the head of the legal team, Jordan-based lawyer Ziad al-Khasawneh, that Saddam had answered the tribunal with "confidence and serenity". al-Duleimi has spent significant time in hiding since his meeting with Saddam, as he received numerous death threats, including a message to his home warning that suicide cells had been formed specifically to kill him as an example to all other attorneys who had volunteered for Saddam's defense team. In May 2005, upon release of photos showing Saddam sleeping and washing his trousers, by an anonymous US Army officer, al-Duleimi made comments critical of the United States Army, but did not comment on a possible lawsuit proposed by al-Khasawneh.

On August 8, 2005, Saddam's family dissolved the remainder of the legal team and appointed Duleimi as sole legal counsel.[citation needed]

In February 2007, Duleimi announced plans to write a book about the "many secrets" his client Saddam Hussein revealed to him during their 140 interviews. The secrets are purportedly about the fall of Baghdad and Hussein's imprisonment. Duleimi also promised to reprint as many as three hundred personal letters, poems and other miscellaneous works written by Hussein. The book, according to Duleimi, could be out in as little as one year. At the time of his announcement, Duleimi had not yet found a publisher.[1]

[edit] Quotes

  • "The doors of hell will open in Iraq, the sectarian divide in the country will deepen, and many more coffins will be sent back to America."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Agence France-Presse. (2007). "Saddam's lawyer plans book on dictator's secrets". dnaIndia.com. Retrieved February, 24, 2007.