I Would Defend Gadhafi: French Ex-Minister

A former French foreign minister says he will represent the Libyan victims of NATO bombings, and that he would defend Moammar Gadhafi in the International Criminal Court if asked. "If he asked me, yes, of course," says Roland Dumas. "(But) I don't think it is going to happen." Dumas was foreign minister under socialist President Francois Mitterrand, but has long been an opponent of Nicolas Sarkozy.

"This is brutal, brutal aggression against a sovereign country," said Dumas at a Tripoli press conference yesterday, adding that a doctor told him there could be as many as 20,000 civilian victims of NATO bombings. Dumas tells Reuters he has not been paid by the Libyan government or people to represent the bombing victims and adds, "We are working as a lawyer. Like the English lawyer or the American lawyer. Okay?" (More Libya stories.)