Rice could testify in trial of White House aide

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could join Vice President Dick Cheney as a potential witness in the perjury trial of Cheney's former top aide, as jury selection began yesterday in the case which has cast a spotlight on how the White House justified war in Iraq.

The names of Cheney, Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, appeared on a long list of government officials and journalists who may be called as witnesses or whose names may come up in the trial of Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby.

Libby is charged with lying to investigators during a probe to determine who leaked the classified identity of a CIA operative whose husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly criticised the Bush administration's use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

Theodore Wells, one of Libby's lawyers, said political issues would be unavoidable during the trial, and potential jurors were asked about the war.

Wilson ''has become in effect the poster child for the issue of whether the Bush administration lied to the American public,'' Wells said. ''From Day One this trial is going to be about ... Mr Wilson's allegations.'' Cheney has already said he expected to testify. Others on the list include White House political adviser Karl Rove, former CIA Director George Tenet and former Pentagon deputy secretary, Paul Wolfowitz. Rice served as Bush's national security adviser during the time at issue.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald asked one potential juror if she would have trouble seeing Rice as a credible witness.

The woman, a housecleaner who said her cousin is serving in Iraq, said she would not. But she said she thought Bush should pull US troops out. ''I think he's been a little harsh. I think he should let them come home,'' she said.

HUMAN MEMORY Libby's defence team plans to argue that he was too preoccupied with national-security matters to accurately remember conversations he may have had about the CIA operative, Valerie Plame.

Potential jurors were asked if they believed that human memory is like a ''tape recorder,'' able to perfectly recall conversations from long ago.

They also were asked if their opinions about the Bush administration and the Iraq war would affect their ability to give Libby a fair trial.

Several said their negative opinion of the administration would cloud their judgment.

''There is nothing they could say or do that would make me think anything positive about them,'' one woman said.

Libby grinned slightly and blinked as he watched her leave the courtroom after she was dismissed by Judge Reggie Walton.

Wilson has accused the Bush administration of leaking his wife's identity in retaliation for his accusation that Bush ''twisted'' intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.

Fitzgerald objected to Libby's lawyers asking questions that might make it easier for the defence to keep Bush opponents off the jury.

Lawyers expect jury selection to last most of the rest of the week and opening statements are tentatively scheduled for January 22. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.

REUTERS PKS BST0535