'Testing, testing ...'

2005-10-20 21:51

Carlos Hamann

Baghdad - Embarrassed US and Iraqi officials are working overtime trying to fix technical glitches that disrupted the globally-televised opening day of former president Saddam Hussein's trial.

An intermittent courtroom audio signal, an informal English translation that constantly broke up, and the inability of reporters and witnesses to see the defendants' faces - just some of the problems that bedevilled the first day.

But by the time the trial reopens on November 28 the most pressing issues should be fixed, said US embassy spokesperson David Culkin.

Washington allocated $75m in May 2004 to help fund court security and building infrastructure, as well as train Iraqi judges and collect evidence of abuses during Saddam's regime.

"They spent $75m and had months to prepare, and this is the best they could come up with?" shouted one TV reporter in a fit of exasperation when the audio system broke down.

When the trial finally opened and Saddam entered in the courtroom, about 25 reporters from around the world witnessing the historic event from behind a glass partition could not hear the defendants.

As Saddam lectured presiding judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin on the legality of the court and there was still no audio, reporters became agitated.

The audio was later made available when television footage, which was delayed by about 20 minutes, was broadcast around the world.

In one of the more farcical episodes, lead prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi was unable to present documented evidence he had of an incident on a CD-ROM as the equipment was not working.

"Where is it?" asked Saddam.

"Right here - I have it here!" said al-Mousawi, waving a CD-ROM computer disk in his hand.

"I want to see those documents," Saddam said.

But a system designed to project computer images onto a large courtroom screen refused to work.

One of the main courtroom problems, Culkin said, was a broadcast system he described as "a jury-rigged one-time event".

Contractors had fallen behind schedule in installing a state-of-the-art broadcast system, largely because the courtroom physical infrastructure had not been fully completed, Culkin said.

Once the broadcast system is complete reporters and guests will listen in on headsets that will provide audio in Arabic and translations in Kurdish and English, Culkin said.

And television cameras positioned at the front of the courtroom will provide a view of the defendants' faces.

"It's a work in progress," Culkin said.

The former dictator, 68, faces crimes that include murder and abduction for crimes committed in 1982.

- AFP