BAGHDAD - Noted Pittsburgh defense attorney Jim Ecker arrived in Baghdad this morning to meet with his new client, “Chemical Ali.” Mr. Ecker told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference in the heavily fortified Green Zone that Mr. Ali was “extremely remorseful” for the things he is accused of doing, “despite the fact that he didn’t do any of those things.” Mr. Ecker said he was looking forward to the opportunity of being filmed walking up the steps of the Baghdad courthouse.
“You know, I’ve got film of me walking into some great courthouses. As a matter of fact, I just transferred the footage of me walking into the Hague with Milosevic from vhs to dvd last week,” said Ecker.
Mr. Ali, whose real name is Ali Hassan al-Majid, asked the Iraqi High Tribunal to appoint Mr. Ecker in a motion filed after the verdict was read Monday. Through an interpreter, Mr. al-Majid said he couldn’t turn on a television without seeing Mr. Ecker, so he figured he was the right man to handle his appeal. Mr. al-Majid was convicted of ordering Iraqi security forces to use chemical weapons to kill over one-hundred and eighty thousand Kurds. Mr. Ecker said accusations of genocide against his client were the result of a simple misunderstanding. “I’m sure when the Iraqi Court of Appeals hears our side of the story, Al will be completely exonerated.”
