[JURIST] Chief lawyer to Saddam Hussein Ziad Khasawneh [Atlantic Monthly profile] Thursday accused the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] and the US government of purposely ignoring repeated requests for legal documents and effectively keeping defense counsel unaware of the trial timetable. Khasawneh, a Jordanian and head of the Committee for the Defense of Saddam Hussein, said in an interview that he received no advance warning that Saddam was to be questioned about the 1982 massacre in Dujail [JURIST report]. Khasawneh said that although Saddam claimed innocence with regard to the nearly 160 villagers killed, "it is normal that any president in the world who comes under an assasination attempt. . . punishes those involved." Tribunal officials maintain that the trial will not be rushed [IST press release] to please Iraq's current government. Reuters has more.