Bloomberg reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said in an interview with ABC News that Saddam Hussein and 11 other members of his ousted regime will face trial beginning next month:
Allawi also denies that insurgency in Iraq is strengthening and insisted that elections will be held in January:
Allawi, 59, said the trial would open "definitely in October," and Hussein might appear in November or December. Asked if Hussein's verdict might be death, Allawi said: "Well, the death penalty has been restored in Iraq."
Allawi is in the U.S. for talks and to attend the opening of the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday in New York.
Allawi rejected repeated suggestions by ABC interviewer George Stephanopoulos that insurgents in Iraq have gained strength. The insurgency is "not getting stronger, it's getting more desperate," he said. "We are squeezing out the insurgency."[. . .]
He disagreed with the statement Sept. 15 by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that security concerns may delay general elections in Iraq.
"We are going to stick with that date," Allawi said. "There is a lot of time still to make things secure in Iraq, and I believe that the United Nations should, rather than put obstacles and decide for us, be more involved in sending more people into Iraq.
The Allawi interview will be aired tomorrow on ABC's "This Week."
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