We go to Britain to speak with Abdul Haq Al-Ani who was released on bond after being arrested for allegedly helping break sanctions against Iraq. He is representing former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and is separatedly charging Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of the cabinet with war crimes.

A human rights lawyer representing Saddam Hussein’s former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was arrested in London last week. Abdul Haq Al-Ani was arrested by Britain’s Customs and Excise and charged under Section 3C of the Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1990 which states that “no person shall do any act calculated to promote the supply or delivery of any goods to any person in Iraq or Kuwait or for the purpose of any business carried on in Iraq”.

He was released on bond and ordered to return for further questioning in eight weeks. He is the first person in Britain to be arrested in connection with the Iraq sanctions. But international lawyers rights organizations say the arrest of Abdul Haq Al-Ani, who is a British barrister, is political. He has been an active opponent of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and was a vigorous campaigner against the more than decade of economic sanctions against Iraq. Shortly after the occupation began, Al-Ani traveled to Iraq to investigate US and British war crimes. Two weeks ago, shortly before his arrest, Al-Ani along with a number of other British lawyers had recently handed a petition to Scotland Yard asking the police to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of the cabinet.

• Abdul Haq Al-Ani, is a London-based barrister. He is currently the lawyer representing former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.