[JURIST] In a letter to US President George W. Bush, the chief Iraqi defense counsel for Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] has urged Hussein's immediate release in order to restore peace in Iraq, and has condemned the ousted president's current trial [JURIST news archive] as a farce riddled with false witnesses and lies. In a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters, Khalil Dulaimi [JURIST news archive] wrote that by freeing Hussein, who he claimed was completely innocent and "beloved by millions of Iraqis", "you [i.e. Bush] will win the favor of the Arabs and Muslims and the entire world" and would avoid a civil war in Iraq. Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for retaliatory torture and killings of more than 140 people in Dujail in 1982. Reuters has more.