Saddam Hussein's family have dissolved his Jordan-based legal team, and have cancelled the power of attorney it had given to international lawyers.
Instead, Saddam's family have appointed Khalil Dulaimi as the "one and sole legal counsel."
Dulaimi has been part of the legal team for the past year, and has attended some of Saddam's initial court hearings in Baghdad.
The family is quoted as saying that they were "obliged to rearrange the legal defense campaign given the unique nature of the case,".
It seems that the family were upset by statements issued by various lawyers, and wanted only one legal voice to speak on Saddam's behalf.
However, Saddam's former chief lawyer Jordanian Ziad al-Khasawneh, who resigned on July 7, claimed that members of the legal team (ie the Americans) had criticised him for rebuking the American occupation of Iraq and declaring the resistance as "legitimate."
He went on to claim that the former U.S. attorney general, Ramsey Clark, had advised Raghad and other members of Saddam's family that such statements hurt Saddam's defense.
Saddam's legal team is quite sizeable, including 1,500 volunteers and at least 22 lead lawyers from several countries including; the United States, France, Jordan, Iraq and Libya.
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