Saddam: Judge satisfied

2005-10-19 22:10

Dubai - The presiding judge at the opening of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's trial said on Wednesday he was "satisfied" with the way it went and rejected claims the case was politicised.

"Yes, I am satisfied," judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.

He declined to say if he considered Saddam's refusal to give his name in court an "insult" to the tribunal or to explain what would have happened if a defendant other than the former Iraqi leader had behaved in this way.

"No comment," the Kurdish judge said in answer to both questions.

"No, I don't agree," Amin said when asked if he agreed with claims by some Iraqis, including defence lawyers, that the tribunal was "politicised."

Legitimacy

Saddam pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder and torture, refusing to recognise the court's authority on the first day of a trial that could see him executed.

Facing the first of what could be several cases over atrocities committed during his quarter century in power, Saddam refused to answer the court's questions and instead launched into a sustained tirade over its legitimacy.

"I said what I said, I am not guilty, I am innocent," Saddam told the court after the presiding judge read out the charges over a 1982 massacre of more than 140 Shiite villagers.

In a televised trial watched by millions across the world, Saddam, 68, described himself as the "president of Iraq" from the metal pen he was sitting in along with seven other aides, and repeatedly refused to give his name.

"I don't acknowledge either the entity that authorises you nor the aggression because everything based on falsehood is falsehood," the ousted dictator said.

"Who are you and what are you?" he demanded of Amin, whose tribunal was set up under US occupation.

- AFP