Prominent Iraqi lawyer says office raided by militants

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By RAWYA RAGEH
Date: 24 August 2006


BAGHDAD, Iraq_The lawyer of a former senior intelligence officer who is
currently being tried along with Saddam Hussein for a 1980s offensive
against Kurds in northern Iraq said Thursday that his office had been raided
by militants.

Badee Izzat Aref said militants ransacked his office on Wednesday in the
central Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah "despite the heavy presence of
police around the building that is meters away from the offices of senior
officials in the Iraqi government."

The area is home to the offices of President Jalal Talabani and the
influential Shiite group, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

Aref is the lawyer of Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, who headed a regional military
intelligence office during the Anfal operation that targeted tens of
thousands of Kurds. Saleh is currently being tried along with Saddam and
five other defendants on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity
for the chemical weapon attack.

Aref is also the attorney of ex-Iraqi deputy premier Tariq Aziz, who is
currently in U.S. military custody in Baghdad.

The lawyer said the gunmen arrived in three civilian cars and took
documents, CDs and mobile phones from his office.

"Nobody was hurt," he added.

Aref said the men identified themselves as "the group of the 'Sayyed'" _
possibly a reference to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. However, the
lawyer said he did not know who was responsible for the attack.

"I have no idea who's behind this and I can't accuse anyone, but I will
continue my work until the end because this is my duty," he said.

He added that the attack occurred at 10 a.m while he was in court for the
third day of the Operation Anfal trial.

Aref said the "Americans have been keeping me in the Green Zone," the
fortified area where the trial is being held in central Baghdad. It is the
same courtroom where Saddam spent months jousting with judges in his
turbulent first trial for his role in the deaths of 148 Shiites in Dujail.
The Green Zone is also home to the offices of the Iraqi government and U.S.
and British embassies.

Iraqi and U.S. officials have promised to provide increased security
measures for attorneys in Saddam's current trial, after three defense
lawyers in the Dujail trial were assassinated.

At one point during the Anfal trial, Aref asked the judge for an extended
period of time to present an appeal, saying "If you face one threat _ that
of the insurgents _ we (defense lawyers) are facing two: that of the
insurgents and that of the militias."
 
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