The prosecution began giving its closing arguments in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein today.

The chief judge declared an end to the hearing of defence witnesses in the trial of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad today and said the prosecution will present its closing argument next week.

Saddam Hussein’s former intelligence chief was manhandled by guards as they dragged him out of court today for arguing with the judge, fuelling defence protests that it is being treated unfairly in the trial of the ousted Iraqi leader and members of his regime.

An American lawyer on Saddam Hussein’s defence team today lashed out at the Baghdad court trying him, saying it was not giving the defence enough time to present its case, intimidated its witnesses and put the defence at “a serious disadvantage”.

Saddam Hussein’s former intelligence chief was pulled out of the court by guards today in a stormy argument with the judge after the defence accused the prosecution of putting a perjured witness on the stand and trying to buy another witness.

The chief judge threw out one of the top defendants in the Saddam Hussein trial amid fierce arguments today as the prosecution and defence accused each other’s witnesses of lying.

Saddam Hussein and his defence team today complained about unfairness in his trial on crimes against humanity, demanding equal time to present their case and saying one of their witnesses had been killed and others wouldn’t testify because they were wanted by authorities.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S trial resumed yesterday, and heard that his regime was justified in a crackdown on Shi’ites.

Tariq Aziz, once a close member of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle, took the stand today as a defence witness in the Baghdad trial of the former Iraqi leader.

The chief judge ordered a defence lawyer to be forced out of the Baghdad courtroom and shouted down Saddam Hussein in arguments today at the start of a new session of the trial of the former Iraqi leader and members of his regime.

Defence witnesses took the stand in the trial of Saddam Hussein’s trial in Baghdad today, and the former Iraqi leader attended the session after being kept out of the courtroom yesterday.

THE defence presented witnesses yesterday in the trial of Saddam Hussein and former members of his regime, a day after a judge formally charged them with crimes against humanity.

Relatives of defendants in the trial of Saddam Hussein and former members of his regime took the stand in Baghdad today as the defence tried to knock down charges of crimes against humanity that carry a possible death penalty by hanging.

The defence presented witnesses today in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein and former members of his regime, after the judge formally charged them with crimes against humanity that carry a possible death penalty.

Saddam Hussein was today formally charged with crimes against humanity, including torture of women and children, murder and the illegal arrest of 399 people in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s. A defiant Saddam refused to enter a plea.

Saddam Hussein was today formally charged with murder, torture of women and children and the illegal arrest of 399 people in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s, bringing the Baghdad trial of the ousted Iraqi leader into a new phase.

Prosecutors in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein today played an audiotape said to be a phone call between the former Iraqi leader and one of his co-defendants discussing the destruction of farmlands during a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s.

The Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein resumed today, and an expanded group of handwriting experts confirmed signatures of the former Iraqi leader and his co-defendants on documents related to a crackdown on Shiites in the 1980s.

HANDWRITING experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signature on memos approving death sentences for 148 Shi’ites and the confiscation of farmlands during the 1980s, the judge said yesterday.

Handwriting experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signature on memos approving death sentences for 148 Shiites and the confiscation of farmlands during an Iraqi crackdown in the 1980s, the chief judge in the former Iraqi leader’s trial said today.

Handwriting experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signatures on more documents related to an Iraq crackdown on Shiites in the 1980s, the chief judge in his Baghdad trial said today.

The Baghdad court trying Saddam Hussein held a brief session today, but handwriting experts who had been due to testify on the authenticity of signatures on key documents did not appear.

SADDAM HUSSEIN was cross-examined for the first time in his six-month-old trial yesterday, saying he approved death sentences against Shi’ites in the 1980s.

Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein appeared in a Baghdad court today for questioning by judges and prosecutors in a new session of his trial on charges of killings of Shiites in the 1980s.

SADDAM HUSSEIN testified yesterday for the first time at his trial, calling on Iraqis to stop a bloody wave of sectarian violence and instead fight American troops, prompting the chief judge to close the courtroom, saying he was making political speeches.

Saddam Hussein testified today for the first time at his trial in the Iraqi capital Baghdad today and called on Iraqis to stop a bloody wave of sectarian violence.

Saddam Hussein testified today for the first time at his trial, calling on Iraqis to stop a bloody wave of sectarian violence and instead fight American troops, prompting the chief judge to close the courtroom, saying he was making political speeches.

Saddam Hussein today testified for the first time at his trial on charges of killing, imprisoning and torturing Shiites in a crackdown in the 1980s.

Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, has denied taking part in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s as he testified today for the first time in the trial of the former Iraqi leader and members of his regime.

A former judge from Saddam Hussein’s regime acknowledged sentencing 148 Shiites to death in the 1980s, but insisted they were given a proper trial and had confessed to trying to assassinate the former Iraqi leader.

A former judge from Saddam Hussein’s regime today insisted that 148 Shiites he sentenced to death in Iraq were given a proper trial, trying to defend himself on charges of killing the men in a crackdown in the 1980s.

One of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants testified today in a new session of the Baghdad trial of the former Iraqi leader and regime officials.

THREE of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants testified for the first time yesterday, denying any role in the deaths of Shi’ites in the 1980s as the trial of the former Iraqi leader entered a new phase.

Three of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants testified for the first time today, denying any role in the deaths and arrests of Shiites in the 1980s, as the trial of the former Iraqi leader entered a new phase.

The trial of Saddam Hussein and fellow members of his regime resumed today, with the judge calling in each defendant individually to present his testimony.

Saddam Hussein today told his judges that he ordered the trial of Shiites who were eventually executed in the 1980s and that he ordered the confiscation of their lands, but insisted that doing so was not a crime.

Defendants in the trial of Saddam Hussein today tried to dispute documents put forward by prosecutors detailing a wave of imprisonments and executions of Shiites in the 1980s, including letters by informants pointing out families for arrest.

PROSECUTORS at Saddam Hussein's trial presented a document yesterday they said was signed by the former leader approving the executions of more than 140 Shi'ites in southern Iraq after an assassination attempt in the 1980s.

Saddam Hussein’s defence lawyers ended their month-long boycott of his Baghdad trial, attending proceedings today even though the judge rejected their demands that he step down.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyers will attend this week’s trial session, a month after they walked out in protest and accusing the chief judge of being biased against their client, one of the lawyers said today.

After shouts, insults, arguments and walkouts, Saddam Hussein and three of his co-defendants unveiled a new show-stealing tactic: hunger strikes.

SADDAM Hussein and three former officials in his regime yesterday told the court handling their trial that they were on a hunger strike in protest at the judge overseeing the proceedings.

Saddam Hussein and three co-defendants today claimed they had launched a hunger strike to protest against the chief judge in their trial.

Saddam Hussein’s former intelligence chief, Ibrahim Barzan, today insisted that he ordered the release of dozens of prisoners, making his most lively defence yet on charges he was involved in torture and executions in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s.