Saddam trial judges being chosen
(Asharq al-Awsat) – Confidential sources told Asharq al-Awsat that intensive meetings are underway to name the judges of Saddam Hussein's trial. The procedures of the trial would be completed shortly. The trial would include Saddam and some of the leaders in the former regime. The trial would be conducted in accordance with Iraqi law. Prosecution witnesses would include Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Safiya al-Suhail, daughter of the late Talib al-Suhail who was assassinated in Beirut under Saddam’s orders. Tarik Aziz and Mohammed Hamza al-Zubaidi reportedly have shown willingness to testify against Saddam.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a pro-Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

Cartoon of the Day

Sistani seeks release of Hezbollah detainees
(Addustour) – The Secretary General of Hezbollah in Iraq, Hasan al-Sari, said a delegation chaired by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's representative, Hamid al-Khafaji, met with the Iraqi government. Sari added that the delegation called for unconditioned release of six members of Hezbollah and that the government promised to meet their demand. Sari also pointed out that a representative of the US ambassador told him that arresting the six members was wrong.
(Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh.)

Release of French hostages impeded
(Al-Mutamar) – A senior Islamic figure accused US forces and the Iraqi National Guard of deterring the handover of the two kidnapped French journalists to the French embassy in Baghdad. The unnamed figure told Radio Monte Carlo that the Frenchmen were in Latifiya, south of Baghdad, and that there was no safe path to send them to the embassy in Baghdad. He added that the so-called "Islamic Army in Iraq" was responsible for kidnapping the journalists and the group intends to release them. Meanwhile, the head of the National League of Iraqi Tribal Leaders said interference by US forces and the Iraqi government has not achieved positive results in freeing the French journalists.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

Clerics Board implicated in kidnappings
(Al-Ittihad) – Some information implicating the Muslim Clerics Board in most of the kidnappings is being investigated. Anonymous sources in charge of the investigation said they had received information from a neighbouring country, in addition to confessions from a kidnapped person. That person pretended not to know Arabic but listened to conversation between someone the source refused to name and another person in charge of the Board’s military wing. The Iraqi services are waiting for the French journalists' crisis to end so they can make the details public.
(Al-Ittihad is published daily by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.)

Photojournalists beaten says Iran
(Al-Taakhi) – Iranian government broadcasts yesterday said that armed elements beat photographers of the Iranian satellite television channel and confiscated their equipment. The event took place in the Latifiya district. Minister of Defence Hazim al-Shalan has accused Tehran sending spies and weapons across the borders in an effort to cause riots among the Shia groups inside Iraq. US forces accused the channel’s correspondents of being spies, and last year detained two of its staff for four months.
(Al-Taakhi is issued daily by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.)

Doori not arrested by National Guard
(Al-Nahdhah) – The Iraqi National Guard has denied any involvement in the arrest of former vice president Ezzat al-Doori. An official in the Ministry of Defence yesterday said they had arrested Doori in Tikrit. A ministry spokesman said units of the National Guard arrested him in a place between the al-Door and al-Naeema neighbourhoods. A police officer said Doori, who has been suffering from leukaemia, received a blood transfusion. News reports said Doori might die during or after the arrest.
(Al-Nahdhah is a daily newspaper issued by Adnan al-Pachachi.)