Saddam: 'I remain president of Iraq'

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, who was alone in the defendants’ pen as the charges were read, stood holding a copy of the Koran and insisted he was still Iraq’s president, saying he did not recognise the court.