Saddam Trial to Take Time; Supporters Riot
Tue December 16, 2003 03:35 AM ET
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By Nadim Ladki
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Stunned supporters of Saddam Hussein rioted in a number of Iraqi cities as indications rose it would be some time before the captured former dictator faces trial for his actions over the past three decades.
President Bush said when asked if he had a personal message for Saddam: "Good riddance. The world is a better place without you...."
But Bush also warned Monday that "the terrorists in Iraq remain dangerous," shortly after suicide car bombings at Baghdad-area police stations killed the two attackers and seven other people and wounded 30.
U.S. troops killed 11 Iraqi guerrillas who tried to ambush their force Monday in the town of Samarra, 62 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Tuesday. U.S. forces suffered no casualties in the attack.
In the restive town of Falluja, 32 miles west of Baghdad, at least one Iraqi gunman was killed and a U.S. soldier was wounded in an exchange of fire during riots Monday night, U.S. military sources and witnesses said.
Witnesses said hundreds of pro-Saddam protesters overran the office of the U.S.-appointed mayor in Falluja and set ablaze the office of a small U.S.-backed political party.
U.S. military sources said during the melee gunmen fired at U.S. forces, wounding one soldier. Soldiers returned fire, killing one gunman and wounding two. Witnesses said three Iraqis died in the clash, which they said lasted for three hours.
The protest in Falluja was one of several demonstrations by supporters of Saddam in the mainly Sunni Muslim areas of Baghdad and towns to the west and north.
Bush said the United States and Iraq would organize a fair and public trial for the 66-year-old Saddam, but Iraqis would decide whether he would face possible execution.
"We will work with the Iraqis to develop a way to try him that will stand international scrutiny," Bush told a Washington news conference, leaving no room for a U.N. role in judging Saddam.
Saddam was captured by U.S. troops Saturday after a tip-off led them to a hole on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. He is being held as a prisoner of war.
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