In a pure act of theatrical bravado, Saddam Hussein has announced that he wishes to sue President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for war crimes.
Defence lawyers working for Saddam have given the media copies of the suit. It blames Bush and Blair for destroying Iraq, and accuses them of committing war crimes by using weapons of mass destruction.
The suit goes on to claim that coalition forces used internationally banned weapons in their military manoeuvres in Iraq; including enriched uranium and phosphoric and cluster bombs against unarmed Iraqi civilians, specifically in Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, al-Kaem and Anbar province.
In November, the U.S. military admitted to using white phosphorous munitions "sparingly" as an incendiary weapon against enemy troops during the Fallujah assault. The military strongly denied using the banned substance against civilians, as some critics have charged, and said that its military use is not banned.
The suit then goes on to accuse Bush and Blair of torturing Iraqi prisoners, polluting Iraq's air, water and environment, inciting internal strife and destroying the country's cultural heritage with the aim of eliminating an ancient civilisation.
Hussein's legal team said that it intends to start legal action against Bush and Blair in the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and the suit demands that they appear before the court to answer the charges and requested the harshest punishment available according to Dutch legislation and the rules of international and humanitarian laws.
Cna this trial become any more bizarre?
The suit is also seeking compensation for "all material and moral damage inflicted on the Iraqi people."
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