Rice hits ‘boycott’ of trial of Saddam

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday slammed the international community for failing to support the prosecution of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity.

In a speech devoted largely to international support for Iraq's fledgling democracy, Miss Rice noted an "effective boycott" of the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants because of opposition in many countries to the death penalty.

"I'm sad to say that the international community has barely done anything to help Iraq prosecute Saddam Hussein," Miss Rice told an audience at the Heritage Foundation.

"All who express their devotion to human rights and the rule of law have a special obligation to help the Iraqis bring to justice one of the world's most murderous tyrants," she said. "The international community's effective boycott of Saddam's trial is only harming the Iraqi people."

An Iraqi court is trying Saddam under Iraqi law, although much of the investigation and prosecution have been underwritten by the United States.

U.S. officials said several countries have refused to provide financial, legal or logistical help for the trial because Saddam and his fellow defendants face the death penalty if convicted.

Iraqis "haven't had much help except from us," a senior State Department official told the Agence France-Presse news service.

Miss Rice's remarks were the latest in a series of speeches by President Bush and his senior aides to shore up public support for the war and to lay out a "path to victory" in Iraq.

Miss Rice said international divisions over Iraq have eased as political reforms have taken hold in Baghdad.

Three years ago, "President Bush's vision of an Iraqi democracy standing as a tribute to its citizens and serving as an inspiration to its neighbors was neither grasped nor supported by many in the international community," Miss Rice said. "Today, countries that previously doubted the promise of democracy in Iraq are rallying to Iraq's side."

She accused two of Iraq's neighbors -- Syria and Iran -- of continuing to work against the rebuilding effort in Iraq.

Miss Rice again addressed a simmering controversy over charges that U.S. intelligence officials have established secret prisons and condoned torture in the war against terrorism.

An investigator told the European Union's human rights agency in Paris yesterday that he had found evidence that U.S. officials had secretly detained terror suspects at sites in Europe, shipping them to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out.

Miss Rice repeated Mr. Bush's assertions that the United States "has never condoned torture."

But, she said, in the global war on terrorism, "We should be prepared to do anything that is legal to prevent another terrorist attack."

Saddam's trial has been stumbling, with two defense attorneys assassinated since it began Oct. 19. The eight defendants are being tried for the executions of 148 Shi'ite Muslims after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982.