Body language reveals the cracks in dictator's façade

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S body language revealed he was dismissive of the court and challenged its authority — but his performance overall showed he is a shadow of his former self, an expert said yesterday.

During the court appearance in Baghdad the defiant former dictator rejected charges of war crimes and genocide, telling a judge that "this is all theatre, the real criminal is Bush".

But SMARTraining's Robert Phipps, a body language expert, said some of Saddam's gestures indicated cracks in his armour: "He remains looking forward at the prosecutor except when the charges are being read out, when he started to show the cracks in his emotions.