Following the capture of ousted Iraqi president by...

Following the capture of ousted Iraqi president by American troops in his hometown Tikrit announced Sunday, HOC president Marco Pannella MEP calls for Saddam Hussein's recognition as a prisoner of war and spokesperson Emma Bonino MEP says he should be tried by an ad hoc tribunal in Iraq.
"A defeated Saddam should not be subjected to the needless and unworthy humiliation of not being recognised as a belligerent party, something he has undoubtedly been in the last six months, and remains still as a prisoner," Panella declared, speaking to a left-wing Italian daily, l'Unita.
"A surrender "without conditions" in conformity with international law and the laws of war must be negotiated with him, to keep the victors and the defeated within the sphere of legality, and avoid a Piazzale Loreto [with reference to the square where Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini's body was hung in public view after his deposition in WWII] and a logic of war that fails to recognise the supremacy of international law."
Pannella called on the international community, the UN and coalition forces included, to work out a common strategy for Saddam's trial.
Bonino, interviewed by Italy's most widely circulated daily, Corriere della Sera, said Saddam's trial "should be held in Iraq, in Arabic and under guarantees that it will not be a vendetta."
"The principle is again hands off Cain, or in this case, hands off Saddam."
With regard to the possibility of Saddam being tried by the International Criminal Court, Bonino said that "legally this would not be impossible, since the UN Security Council, with 9 out of 15 votes could establish the authority of the court to hear the trial. It would be difficult because neither the US nor Iraq have yet recognised the court, and difficult in political terms."
"We are now at a juncture where it's necessary to move on from the search of the weapons of mass destruction to the 'weapons of mass attraction': freedom, democracy, new institutions for Iraq. Europe must stop being a spectator and start acting," the former Commissioner said.