Khalil al-Duleimi is an attorney best known for representing

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

at his

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

. He was one of 22 lawyers representing Hussein at his trial, and the only one based in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. When Saddam's legal team learned that Saddam was to be interrogated, they requested the presence of a lawyer. Al-Duleimi represented Saddam, and told the head of the legal team,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

-based lawyer

Ziad al-Khasawneh Ziyad Al-Khasawneh is a Jordanian lawyer who headed a team of over 3000 defense lawyers for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was a ...

, that Saddam had answered the tribunal with "confidence and serenity". Al-Duleimi has spent significant time in hiding since his meeting with Saddam, as he received numerous death threats, including a message to his home warning that suicide cells had been formed specifically to kill him as an example to all other attorneys who had volunteered for Saddam's defense team. In May 2005, upon release of photos showing Saddam sleeping and washing his trousers, by an anonymous US Army officer, al-Duleimi made comments critical of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, but did not comment on a possible lawsuit proposed by al-Khasawneh. On August 8, 2005, Saddam's family dissolved the remainder of the legal team and appointed al-Duleimi as sole legal counsel. In a June 2006 interview with Malcolm Beith of Newsweek, al-Duleimi announced his intention to write a book about his client, in which he would "tell the truth." "My memoirs will contain all the facts, and I will reveal many details that will serve justice and the truth," he told the Newsweek reporter. In February 2007, al-Duleimi officially re-iterated those plans to write a book about the "many secrets" his client

revealed to him during their 140 interviews. The secrets are purportedly about the fall of Baghdad and Saddam's imprisonment. Al-Duleimi also promised to reprint as many as three hundred personal letters, poems and other miscellaneous works written by Saddam. The book, according to al-Duleimi, could be out in as little as one year. At the time of his announcement, al-Duleimi had not yet found a publisher.Agence France-Presse. http://www.newsweek.com/2006/07/05/he-s-not-afraid.html (2007).
"Saddam's lawyer plans book on dictator's secrets"
''dnaIndia.com''. Retrieved February 24, 2007. In December 2008,

Muntadhar al-Zaidi Muntadhar al-Zaidi ( ar, منتظر الزيدي ''Muntaẓar az-Zaydī''; born 15 January 1979) is an Iraqi broadcast journalist who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Baghdadia TV. , al-Zaidi works with a Lebanese ...

, an

broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

who was under detention after having thrown his shoes at U.S. president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, refused al-Duleimi's offer to defend him legally.

References

chinadaily

Saddam's Jordan-based legal team dissolved

Interview with Malcolm Beith, Newsweek, June 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Duleimi, Khalil al- Living people 20th-century Iraqi lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Iraqi lawyers