The Iraqi opposition has started a course in "war crimes training" as part of preparations to put on trial President Saddam Hussein and his government, an opposition umbrella group said.
The Iraqi National Congress (INC), in a statement received here Saturday, said 43 Iraqis were taking a four-day seminar in the US city of Newport, Rhode Island on how to collect evidence for use in war crimes trials.
The training "is being provided by the US Defense Department under provisions of the Iraq Liberation Act," it said. "The course will cover all aspects of evidence collection, case development, evidence management, and office management."
The London-based INC said "an excellent group of lawyers, investigators, human rights workers, doctors and nurses" had been selected for the course, without specifying when it started.
It urged the international community to indict Saddam and leading members of his government for "war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity."
At the start of October, the US State Department announced it had agreed with the INC to provide four million dollars of US funding for humanitarian, public information and other activities.
The funding -- under the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 which pledges a total of 97 million dollars to the opposition -- is designed "to advance the Iraqi National Congress' ongoing operations and establish new ones," the State Department said -- DUBAI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
