Head of Saddam defense committee quits

AMMAN, Jordan, July 6 (UPI) -- The Committee for Defending Saddam Hussein has turned over full control of the defense to a group headed by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Lawyer Ziad Khasawneh, the Jordanian head of the committee, told UPI Wednesday said he contacted Saddam's wife, Sajida Khairallah, and informed her about his decision to quit the committee, which was established in Amman in June 2004 by 24 lawyers from Jordan, Belgium, France, the United States, Sudan and Libya.

The committee, which includes former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's daughter, Aisha, has been unable to meet with Saddam face-to-face.

Khasawneh said the committee might be dissolved.