'The witness is a liar'
2005-12-21 13:56
Baghdad - Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan Tikriti on trial with the former dictator over a massacre of Shi'ite villagers, lashed out at a prosecution witness and at the judges during Wednesday's hearing.
"The witness is a liar," Barzan shouted after Ali Mohammed Hussein al-Haydari accused him of kicking him and overseeing the torture of his brothers arrested in 1982 in the town of Dujail after an assassination bid against Saddam.
"If you were a real Iraqi you would be here with us in the dock," Barzan also told Judge Rizkar Amin.
Security guards moved into the enclosed dock to seize Barzan and remove him from the court, but the judge ordered them to desist.
"These men are terrorising us," Barzan shouted, speaking of the security guards.
Barzan was responsible for the feared Mukhabarat intelligence service at the time of the assassination attempt on Saddam.
- AFP