Saddam admits to approving executions

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.

He claimed that he believed that the evidence had proven they were involved in an assassination attempt against him.

Saddam, standing alone as the sole defendant in the courtroom, dodged some questions from prosecutors over his role in the crackdown, giving long speeches calling the court “illegitimate”.