Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer, Ziad al-Khasawneh, has left Saddam Hussein's legal team.
He cites attempts by the team's American members to try to run the defence, and "soft pedal" on the US occupation of Iraq, as being the reasons for his resignation.
Ziad al-Khasawneh reportedly said that Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad, prefers to have Americans and non-Arabs on the defence team "because she thinks they will win the case and free her father."
Al-Khasawneh is quoted as saying:
"I was resigning because some American lawyers in the defense team want to take control of it and isolate their Arab counterparts,".
The Americans on the team include former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark.
Al-Khasawneh said Clark and Curtis Doebbler, another American lawyer helping defend Saddam, "have often asked me to refrain from criticizing the American occupation of Iraq and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government."
Al-Khasawneh has also accused Saddam's daughter of removing all files related to Saddam's defense from his office. "I was away in Libya when she did all that without my knowledge,".
Saddam's legal team includes 1,500 volunteers and 22 lead lawyers from several countries including; the United States, France, Jordan, Iraq and Libya.
No date has been set for the trial of Saddam.
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