Reserve admiral from Oklahoma City a witness to history

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ When Saddam Hussein appeared in an Iraqi courtroom in July, an Oklahoma City man was on hand to watch the history unfold. <br/><br/>Naval Reserve Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic watched

Sunday, December 5th 2004, 3:25 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ When Saddam Hussein appeared in an Iraqi courtroom in July, an Oklahoma City man was on hand to watch the history unfold.

Naval Reserve Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic watched as the former Iraqi leader responded to charges of war crimes and mass killings. Saddam carried on a 26 minute long tirade.

Slavonic says Saddam would occasionally stare at him and calls the experience ``moving.''

Slavonic was senior public affairs officer for Multi-National Forces Iraq. In addition to Saddam he also saw eleven others in court, including former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as ``Chemical Ali.''

And Slavonic was one of two uniformed officers present when former Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer returned control of Iraq to the Iraqis.

Slavonic returned to the United States in mid-November and returns home next week.