Sunday, October 17, 2004
Bin Laden in Baghdad - the story that won't go away... thanks to Saddam's lawyer
Wizbang blog reports on the latest MEMRI update:
None of it will be news to faithful Chrenkoff readers. Back in July I published a profile of Saddam's all-star defense team and I wrote then about di Stefano:
Either way, Saddam is in trouble; either because the story is true, or because his defense lawyer is a fantasizing eccentric.
|
"SADDAM'S ITALIAN LAWYER GIOVANNI DE STAFANO TOLD A LONDON-BASED DAILY THAT A MEETING WAS HELD BETWEEN HIMSELF AND OSAMA BIN LADEN AT THE RASHID HOTEL IN BAGHDAD IN 1998. (AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT, LONDON, 10/15/04)"Writes Kevin: "I did some digging into the background of Saddam's lawyer Giovanni De Stafano, and based on the extensive biograph from The New Zealand Herald, I'd say that anything this man claims is highly suspect."
None of it will be news to faithful Chrenkoff readers. Back in July I published a profile of Saddam's all-star defense team and I wrote then about di Stefano:
"Another team member is British-based Giovanni di Stefano, multi-millionaire and former controversial director of Dundee football club. And a lawyer, apparently. One report says that 'Mr di Stefano, who once reportedly said he would have been prepared to represent Adolf Hitler, lists road rage killer Kenneth Noye among his past clients.' Di Stefano has in the past rubbed shoulders with some interesting characters. He had this to say about the late Serbian ethnic cleansing mass murderer Arkan: 'He loved me very much as a human being. And I liked him as a person. He had good morals. He was a good person. And I'm not ashamed of saying it.' He also claims to have met Osama bin Laden in Baghdad in 1998 (!): 'He had a handshake like a woman. He had a soft voice. He spoke like a priest.' Di Stefano's legal qualifications have been queried by a Court of Appeals judge and he has been previously convicted of fraud."Di Stefano is obviously a very colorful character and his reference to Bin Laden in Baghdad is curious, to say the least. Certainly you wouldn't expect Saddam's defense lawyer to volunteer information about direct contacts between al Qaeda and the Iraqi regime, one of the more controversial (and according to the media, now safely debunked) justifications for war. From the MEMRI dispatch it seems that di Stefano is sticking to his story.
Either way, Saddam is in trouble; either because the story is true, or because his defense lawyer is a fantasizing eccentric.
|
