Michael Jansen interviews Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim Al-Jaafari on the transfer of sovereignty and Saddam Hussein's trial According to Iraqi Vice President Dr Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, the preliminary trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, which began last Thursday, will be closely monitored by Iraqis, the Arab community and the world at large. "People want to see what will happen to the dictator and his cronies," he said. In Al-Jaafari's view, Saddam Hussein's trial will show the world how to deal with "people who rule by iron and force ... This is the kind of future awaiting any dictator." Al-Jaafari, 62, is a medical doctor by profession who hails from Mosul and has been one of the key opposition figures against Saddam Hussein for the past three decades. He moved up the ladder of Al- Dawaa, one of Iraq's prominent Shia parties, to reach its top position, and was a key member of the dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. The road to our meeting with Al- Jaafari revealed just how far the transfer of sovereignty from the US occupation administration to the Iraqis has gone since the formal handover on 28 June. To reach his office in a red brick bungalow in the Qadisiyah neighbourhood on a bend in the Tigris river, we had to drive along a concrete block wall on a narrow road until we found the gate. There the car was searched by properly equipped but inexperienced men of the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps who were observed by US troops lounging in the shade. The Iraqis checked us with metal detectors and searched our bags. There were four more searches, two by Iraqis, one by a US soldier, and the final search, before we met Al-Jaafari, was performed by a Moroccan security officer who had been trained at an air base in Germany and wore an incomplete uniform. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly a few hours after ousted President Hussein was indicted on preliminary charges before an Iraqi tribunal, Al-Jaafari said it was normal that the country's former ruler and co-defendants should be handed over by the US occupation forces for prosecution by the Iraqi interim government. "Now that we have sovereignty, they will be in the hands of the Iraqi interim government," he said. He compared Saddam Hussein to other dictators who have been removed from power, handed over to their people and made to answer to the law. "There is a black future for any dictator," he said. On Wednesday, the Iraqi government announced the long- aniticipated new security law, commonly known as National Security Law (Qanun Assalama al- watanyia) which aims to put an end to the violence and restore security to Iraqi streets. According to the new law, signed by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, maritial laws will be imposed for limited periods of time and in certain areas where violence is rife. Only days before the law was imposed, Al-Jaafari told the Weekly : "I am in favour of giving freedom to the people rather than restricting it in any way; that's a basic human right. But sometimes it is better for the country to have martial law ... Martial law is not needed during normal times but when the security and safety of the country are at stake, then it may be necessary to impose martial law until order is restored. Many people are in favour of instituting martial law." Al-Jaafari made a clear distinction between how Iraq should handle martial law and the way other countries in the region have done so. He said that Iraq would "not be like Egypt where martial law has been in force for 23 years." He pointed out that the government should impose a curfew "for a short time in regions and localities where violence is rife." The curfew, Al-Jaafari explained, would only be in place for a short time. Precedents show that martial law can be used to censor the media. Al-Jaafari argued that in this case martial law would not target media critical of the government, only media that encourages criminality and terrorism would be restricted. When asked about the failure of the occupation authorities to rebuild the Iraqi army, which is now only several thousand strong, Al-Jaafari responded by saying that there must be a break with the past if Iraq is to have an army which will have the respect and confidence of the majority of the country's citizens. He added: "We cannot depend on the security system of Saddam Hussein ... Before, security meant the security of the dictator; now it means the security of the people. We must have another concept, another definition of security, a new system. Rebuilding the armed forces will take time and Iraq will need the help of outside powers to maintain stability while the security forces are being recruited and trained." In response to comments about Iraq's incomplete sovereignty, Al-Jaafari said, "Sovereignty is not proportional. You either have full sovereignty or none. There is no relative or conditional sovereignty ... You can't switch it on and off." "We have to make our sovereignty complete," he said. If the people do not become fully sovereign, he went on, "they will lose part of what they have now."
