Hussein Must Be Tried Soon, Gulf States Say

Iraq and its neighbors Tuesday demanded a swift start for the trials of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and other leaders of his regime.

The interior ministers of Iraqi border nations also expressed determination to increase cooperation in frontier security, a key issue amid complaints of cross-border insurgent traffic and fears that Iraq’s instability could spread.

The calls came in a communique released at the end of the meeting of interior ministers of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan.

Iraq accuses foreign Islamic fighters of being behind some of the insurgency’s deadliest attacks. It says neighboring countries are either facilitating border infiltration or turning a blind eye.

“We may have different views on the extent of foreign support in the bloodshed and turmoil in Iraq,” Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said. “But no one can reject that terrorism in Iraq has foreign ties.”

On Sunday, the Iraqi Special Tribunal filed its first criminal case against Hussein, and a trial date is expected within days.

Hussein and three other former top officials are accused of involvement in a July 1982 massacre of an estimated 150 Shiite Muslims in Dujayl, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

The Iraqi leadership believes the trial of Hussein and the others will send a message to insurgents that the Iraqi leader will never return to power.

“We are for a swift trial of those criminals. They are war criminals who committed terrible crimes against the Iraqi people,” Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Tuesday.

“Hurrying in their trial will help in reducing terrorism,” he said, without elaborating.