
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991                   TAG: 9102260250
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WAR-CRIMES TRIALS TAKING SHAPE

The Bush administration, pursuing new reports of possible war crimes by Iraqi troops in Kuwait and pressing its study of what to do about them, appears to be leaning toward a postwar court assembled by the wartime allies to try those responsible.

A new tribunal, set up by the allies and dominated by judges from Arab nations, is the preferred approach among three options now under review, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The actual shape of the new court and the scope of the trials, that official said, can be sorted out only "after cessation of the hostilities."

The clearest signal yet that the allies will hold such trials came Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Lt. Gen. Khalid Bin Sultan, commander of the joint Arab forces fighting in the Persian Gulf war, said flatly:

"We warn all who have taken part in the many crimes against innocent civilians in Kuwait, whether by rape, murdered or tortured, that they will be held responsible before an international court of justice and will be treated as criminals of war."

He said he was referring specifically to a spate of new reports of atrocities in Kuwait, especially Kuwait City. "I'm talking about the people who are murdering children, and they are doing horrible things right now," he said.

"I hate to say it, but there is killing people by axes. . . . They rape females, cut certain parts of them, and hang them in every street. . . . They even try to force very young soldiers to kill Kuwaiti children. . . . So horrible."

However, some refugees from Kuwait crossing the border into Jordan Monday denied that Iraqi troops were committing atrocities in Kuwait City. "Iraqi troops are treating people well; they are not bothering them," said Ghazi Hijazi, a Jordanian businessman who said he left Kuwait Friday evening. Other refugees interviewed at Ruweished made similar comments.

Although there appears to be much sentiment in Congress to try Iraqi president Saddam Hussein for war crimes, Sultan appeared to be discounting the possibility that he would be haled before an allied tribunal after the war.

Asked specifically whether the allies would demand that Saddam Hussein be handed over for trial, the Saudi general said: "No, sir. Saddam Hussein, his own people, his own nation can deal with him."

The Pentagon has a team of war-crimes investigators, made up some 20 Army reservists called to duty for that purpose, gathering evidence for possible use in postwar trials. That team, half lawyers and half paralegals, is working partly in the Persian Gulf and partly at the Pentagon.

by CNB