Thinner Saddam still packs a punch

By Jane Peel
BBC News, Baghdad

The former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, was back in court on Wednesday, protesting that he had been taken there from his hospital bed against his will.

The ex-president was in fighting mood as the chief judge insisted he remain in the courtroom and take part in proceedings.

The former leader looked thinner but was no less bombastic

Saddam Hussein and seven others are on trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his rule.

They are accused of involvement in the murder of more than 140 Shia Muslims in the village of Dujail just north of Baghdad. They were killed after a failed assassination attempt on the president in 1982.

Saddam Hussein, dressed in a white shirt and dark suit, showed all his trademark defiance as he frequently interrupted proceedings, arguing with the judge and the lawyer appointed by the court to represent him.

Looking thin but otherwise well despite a 16-day hunger strike, Saddam Hussein insisted he had been brought to court against his will.

The judge said a medical report indicated he was in good health.

"I didn't say I was ill. I was on hunger strike," he replied.

Lawyer boycott

None of Saddam's own lawyers turned up.

They are boycotting the trial in protest at security arrangements. Three of the defence team have been murdered in the course of the trial, which began in October 2005.

Saddam Hussein objected to the court-appointed lawyer, describing him as his enemy.

Nevertheless the chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, told him he had to remain in the courtroom and listen to the closing statement being made on his behalf.

It led to an angry exchange between the former president and the judge.

When the new lawyer addressed the court, he spoke about teenagers who were said to have died under interrogation after the attempted assassination of Saddam.

It prompted another interruption: "Is he a lawyer for Saddam Hussein or the prosecution?" he said.

'No hanging'

In a characteristically bombastic performance, Saddam Hussein even expressed an interest in his own execution, should he be convicted and sentenced to death.

He said: "I advise you as an Iraqi, if you were in a circumstance in which you have to issue a death penalty, you have to remember that Saddam Hussein is a military man and in this case the verdict should be death by shooting and not hanging".

The trial is now in its closing stages. Saddam is due to appear in court again on Thursday and he will have the opportunity to make his own final statement.

A verdict is not expected until August. He could then be tried on new charges of genocide arising from an operation to assert control over Kurdish areas in northern Iraq in 1987 and 1988.