MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - The fate of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein should be decided in accordance with law, officials in Moscow point out.
The Russian government believes that Saddam should be tried by the Iraqi people and in full compliance with law, for the sake of stability and national harmony, which are crucial to Iraq's progress toward democracy, the Foreign Ministry's PR Department says in a comment on the transfer of Saddam under the jurisdiction of the sovereign Iraqi government.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Alawi assured the global community that the trial on Saddam would be based on the principles of court independence and the supremacy of law and that the former dictator, charged with crimes against humanity, would be entitled to legal defense.
