Baathist purge may stall Hussein trial

[Barrett808]

Baathist purge may stall Hussein trial
By Neil MacDonald, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Jul 28, 4:00 AM ET

BAGHDAD - More than a year and a half after US troops pulled Saddam Hussein out of his spider hole, Iraqis are still wondering what will become of him.

US officials promised that Saddam's trial before a national tribunal, on charges running from aggression against neighbors to genocide, would usher in a new era of justice and rule of law in Iraq.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) - the roughly 50-judge court set up under US guidance to try former regime officials - looked primed to kick off its formal proceedings against the ousted dictator, along with several of his highest-ranking associates.

But now the IST appears to be coming apart at the seams, amid a flurry of recriminations among judges and court administrators over past links with the Baath Party, the institution at the center of Saddam's regime.

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