Amman, Jordan – Facing trial and possible execution in the massacre of his fellow Muslims, ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein sought in a letter published Sunday to cast himself as a martyr, writing that his “soul and existence is to be sacrificed” for the Arab cause.
A Jordanian friend received the letter through the International Committee of the Red Cross, which verified its authenticity and said it had been censored by Hussein’s U.S. captors in Iraq.
“My soul and my existence is to be sacrificed for our precious Palestine and our beloved, patient and suffering Iraq,” said the letter, published in two Jordanian newspapers.
The Jordanian Arab Baath Socialist Party, which made the letter public, said its recipient refused to be identified. It was believed to have been the first letter sent by Hussein to someone other than a family member since he was captured in December 2003.
Iraqi authorities are preparing about a dozen cases against Hussein and his former lieutenants but have completed the preliminary investigation of only one: the 1982 massacre of more than 150 Shiite residents of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an assassination attempt against the Iraqi leader.
That case is expected to go to trial in the fall, although no date was set.
Government spokesman Laith Kubba said in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “Late Edition” that the first trial might start within six weeks.
Hussein and his co- defendants could face the death penalty if convicted. Others indicted in the Dujail massacre are Barazan Ibrahim, intelligence chief at the time and Hussein’s half brother; former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan; and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, at the time a Baath Party official in Dujail.
The letter’s defiant tone, flowery Arabic and support for Palestine were similar to Hussein’s old speeches.
Rana Sidani, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross’ Iraq delegation in Amman, said Hussein and other such political detainees to whom the Red Cross has access are normally only allowed to write letters to family members and loved ones and in exceptional cases to friends.
She said the Red Cross messages are not meant for publication.
