Lack of money hinders Saddam's defense team

The trial is scheduled to start Wednesday.
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- With his trial about to start, Saddam Hussein's trial lawyers are struggling to prepare a defense while saddled with a lack of money and a meddlesome daughter of the ousted leader.
For now, their strategy appears to be to try to delay proceedings as much as possible, to argue that the Iraqi court established to try him is illegal under international law and to contend that Saddam is immune from prosecution since his actions were legal under the previous Iraqi constitution.
The defense is also challenging the trial's Wednesday start date, saying it hasn't had enough time to review evidence allegedly tying Saddam to a 1982 massacre of Shiite Muslims in a town north of Baghdad.
Lack of time isn't the only problem.
Intrusive daughter
Former legal advisers complain that Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad, has interfered with the defense lawyers' work in destructive ways.
Raghad fired nearly all her father's 1,500 Arab and international lawyers in August, complaining they had given her conflicting advice. Some former team members complained she favored non-Arab lawyers.
"She controls the lawyers although she has no legal background, and she keeps changing her mind every time she speaks to a different attorney," said one of the fired lawyers, who agreed to discuss the matter only if not quoted by name, to avoid harming his relations with Saddam's family.
"I think Raghad will send her father straight to the gallows," he added.
Money is another problem, the legal team contends, despite allegations that Saddam pocketed millions, including funds skimmed from the now-discredited U.N. oil-for-food program.
Saddam's main Iraqi lawyer, Kahlil al-Dulaimi, has proposed that the Iraqi Special Tribunal or the media pay for defense expenses. Raghad's aides have approached a few media organizations offering exclusive access to the defense team in return for cash.