Visiting Iraqi Minister of State Qassem Daoud said in Kuwait City on Saturday that the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will be tried before holding the Iraqi general elections scheduled in late January, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

Daoud was quoted as saying that it's easy to take Saddam on trial, but trying those involved in crimes against the people will need time until the Iraqi judiciary system is fully built.

He affirmed that the Iraqi judiciary was independent and just,stressing that the government has allowed foreign lawyers to defend Saddam because it trusts the Iraqi judiciary.

Daoud said that the whole Iraqi state has fallen with the downfall of Saddam Hussein, so the Iraqi government was working for laying the foundations for the new Iraq and plan for its future.

The new Iraq will be democratic and will give equal opportunities for its people, he said, adding the government is preparing for democratic elections in late January.

Asked if the Iraqi Shiite Leader Muqtada al-Sadr could be sued by the relatives of people killed in the Haidari Shrine, the official affirmed that none will be above the law, even if they were part of the government.

Daoud arrived here on Saturday for a three-day official visit to Kuwait.

Source: Xinhua