UK campaigns to indict Saddam

A WORLDWIDE campaign to prosecute President Saddam Hussein and 11 other Iraqi leaders on war crimes and genocide charges was launched in London yesterday.

The International Campaign to Indict Iraqi War Criminals (Indict), which is backed by $3m (pounds 1.85m) from the United States Congress, vowed to use international law to bring the Baghdad regime to justice.

Indict, which is based in London but will set up offices in New York, Paris and Moscow over the next year, received support from Tony Blair and President Bill Clinton as it was launched formally in the House of Commons yesterday.

The pressure group revealed that it had already begun proceedings against Saddam's half-brother, Barzan Al Tikriti, but he had fled to Baghdad when he discovered the move last week.

Mr Tikriti, the Iraqi ambassador to the UN in Geneva, is one of 11 leading members of the Ba'athist regime named by Indict yesterday on its "wanted" list of those guilty of crimes against humanity.