BAGHDAD: The United Nations said that Saddam Hussein's trial would never satisfy international standards because of ongoing violence and flaws in Iraq's legal system.

John Case, the UN's human rights chief in Iraq, said the murder of two defence lawyers, continued threats against judges, lawyers and witnesses and weaknesses in the Iraqi justice system had caused grave doubts about the trial's legitimacy.

"We're very anxious about the tribunal (trying Saddam)," he said. "The legitimacy of the tribunal needs to be examined. It has been seriously challenged in many quarters."

The court resumed Monday after a week's adjournment. The chief judge, Rizgar Amin, had suspended the hearing for seven days to allow two of Saddam's seven co-defendants former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan and Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother to appoint new lawyers after one was killed and another fled abroad. Another defence lawyer has also been shot dead.

"There is already a paralysis in the legitimacy of the defence," said Case. "We believe that weakness in the system of administration of justice, in addition to the antecedents surrounding the establishment of this tribunal, will never be able to produce the kind of process that would be able to satisfy international standards."

The UN has no official role in the trial but has called for an independent probe into the deaths of the lawyers. Case's comments add to a growing chorus of international human rights and justice groups who argue that a fair trial is impossible under current conditions in Iraq. There have been calls for the trial to be delayed, moved to safer venues such as the Kurdistan region or abroad to the international criminal court in The Hague.

Adding to the febrile atmosphere, Iraqi authorities uncovered a plot by Sunni Arab insurgents to fire rockets at the court building during Monday's session. On the eve of last week's trial session, eight Sunni Arabs from Tikrit were arrested for planning to assassinate the chief investigative judge, Judge Raed al- Juhi.

Source: China Daily