Jacques Verges

Paris, March 27 (Reuters): The French lawyer known for defending Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and guerrilla Carlos the Jackal said today that Saddam Hussein’s nephew had chosen him to represent the deposed Iraqi President.

Jacques Verges, who is also defending former Iraqi deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, confirmed the details of a French newspaper report that he would lead Saddam’s defence.

The Iraqi governing council in Baghdad is setting up a war crimes tribunal to try Saddam on charges which may include genocide and crimes against humanity.

French daily Le Parisien said Verges had outlined a possible defence strategy based on US support for Saddam in the 1980s and believed US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld might have to testify in any trial.