Chief judge ejects Saddam from Baghdad court

BAGHDAD - The chief judge ejected Saddam Hussein and a co-defendant punched one of the guards and denounced prosecutors as "pimps" and "traitors" during the toppled leader's genocide trial against the Kurds on Tuesday.

The chaotic scenes drew criticism of the US-backed court from the government, which last month sacked the previous presiding judge, saying he was too soft with Saddam and that he had lost his neutrality.

Judge Mohammed al-Ureybi ordered a closed session after co-defendant and former military commander Hussein Rasheed was escorted by guards from the courtroom, and once proceedings resumed more than an hour later the dock was empty.

Saddam and six others are being tried over the Anfal (Spoils of War) military campaign against Iraq's ethnic Kurds in the 1980s.

"Generally, the government is not pleased with the performance of the court," Sunni Deputy-Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie told Reuters.

"This is not a court but a battle. I don't understand why the judges are all young and we have plenty of judges with great experience."

Ureybi, who has taken a hard-line approach with defendants, ordered Saddam to leave the courtroom after cutting off his microphone when he began a speech after the first Kurdish witness had finished her testimony.

It was not clear what Saddam and the judge said but it was the fourth time in the last five sessions Saddam has been ejected since Ureybi took over as chief judge in late September.

Ali Hassan al-Majeed, Saddam's cousin who is also known as "Chemical Ali", said he preferred a swift end to the case.

"I want my sentence to be passed now and I wish it's the death penalty so I can finish with this court," he told the judge.

The stormy session overshadowed graphic testimony given by witnesses.

The first witness spoke on condition of anonymity and said conditions in several detention centres where she was held with her children reminded her of "Judgment Day".

"One of my relatives was with me and gave birth to a child in the toilet ... we placed the baby in a rough sack and cut the umbilical cord with a piece of broken glass," she said.

She told the court she was arrested after Iraqi forces took her husband away in mountains where they had fled bombing on their village in April 1988.

The woman said she never saw her husband again.

A second anonymous witness told the court rape was rampant in prisons and the bodies of those who died in captivity were fed to the dogs.

The defence team continued its boycott of the trial in protest at the sacking of the previous judge. He had angered the government by telling Saddam: "You are not a dictator".

Legal rights groups have said the dismissal could hurt the trial's credibility.

After hearing five witnesses, the court adjourned for Wednesday where the court will listen to five more witnesses.

Saddam, 69, Majeed, and five former commanders face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in Anfal, which prosecutors say left 182,000 ethnic Kurds dead or missing. Saddam and Majeed face the additional genocide charges.

- REUTERS