Saddam warns judge he will be held accountable

SADDAM Hussein warned the judge in his trial yesterday that he could be held accountable for his actions during the proceedings.

"This game must not continue, if you want Saddam Hussein's neck, you can have it!" Saddam told the court after hearing testimony from two witnesses.

"I have exercised my constitutional prerogatives after I had been the target of an armed attack."

Saddam described the testimony as "organised lies."

Addressing the judge, Saddam said: "When the revolution of the heroic Iraq arrives, you will be held accountable."

The judge replied: "This is an insult to the court. We are searching for the truth."

"Is that what you call a search for the truth?"

Saddam replied, in apparent reference to the witnesses.

Saddam said he returned all of the lands that had been impounded shortly after the assassination attempt along with compensation to area residents. He also received a delegation from Dujail town, whose members apologised for what happened.

"Wasn't it the right of Saddam Hussein to have his agents pursue those who shot at him?" Saddam asked the judge.

Co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother, and the lawyers challenged the testimony of the second witness because he was 10 years old in 1982.

"This witness when he was 10 needed his mother's help to go to the toilet," Ibrahim said.

Earlier in the proceedings Saddam declared that: "I am not afraid of execution."

The first witnesses took the stand and testified that the former president's agents carried out random arrests, torture and killings.

Saddam suggested that the first witness against him needed psychiatric treatment.

The outburst was one of several by Saddam or his co-defendants during the session that also saw a brief walkout by his defence lawyers.

Following the witness' testimony, Saddam defended his actions and told the court that he understood the pressures upon it in his trial. He and his seven co-defendants could be executed if convicted on the charges stemming from the deaths of more than 140 Shi'ites in 1982.

"When I speak, I speak like your brother," he said.

"Your brother in Iraq and your brother in the nation. I am not afraid of execution. I realise there is pressure on you and I regret that I have to confront one of my sons. But I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for Iraq."

When the first witness, Ahmed Hassan Mohammed spoke out, Saddam told him: "Do not interrupt me, son."

"If it's ever established that Saddam Hussein laid a hand on any Iraqi, then everything that witness said is correct," he said.

It was the third court session in the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants accused in the 1982 killing of more than 140 Shi'ites after an assassination attempt against the president in Dujail where Saddam at times appeared to be in control of the court as much as the presiding judge.

Earlier, the former president's lawyers briefly walked out of court after the judge refused to allow statements by foreign lawyers including former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin said the defence should submit its motion in writing and warned that if the defence walked out then the court would appoint replacement lawyers.

After the defence lawyers left, Saddam, shaking his right hand, told the judge: "You are imposing lawyers on us. We reject that."

Saddam and his half brother Barazan Ibrahim then chanted "Long live Iraq, long live the Arab state."

Ibrahim stood up and shouted: "Why don't you just execute us and get rid of all of this!"

When the judge explained that he was ruling in accordance with the law, Saddam replied: "This is a law made by America and does not reflect Iraqi sovereignty."

At the start of yesterday's session, Saddam walked into the court with a smile, carrying a copy of the Koran, and greeted everyone there.

Most of the defendants and several of the defence lawyers stood up out of respect when Saddam walked in.

The trial will resume today.