Saddam trial judge throws out defence lawyer

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.

The arguments started when defence lawyer Bushra Khalil tried to speak, and chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman told her to wait. When she tried to continue, he shouted at her: “Sit down. Sit down.”