Troubled Saddam trial postponed again

BAGHDAD - The trial of Saddam Hussein was delayed again today, with judges apparently divided after a series of setbacks that defence lawyers said proved political interference with the US-sponsored Iraqi court.

A court spokesman said the postponement to Sunday was due to witnesses failing to appear, but Saddam's lawyer contested that and blamed it on disarray after the resignation of the chief judge, who complained of government meddling, and allegations that the judge's deputy had ties to the ousted Baath party.

The court yesterday named Raouf Abdel Rahman, a Kurd, a new chief judge after the presiding judge quit and his replacement was accused of being a supporter of the former president.

A court officer said tensions within the tribunal over the reshuffle on the bench, which now features just two of the five judges who began the trial three months ago, had contributed to delays. "It's very sensitive," he said, asking not to be named.

"This is just an excuse to cover up the state of turmoil and chaos in the court," lead defence attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi told Reuters. "The court did not know from where or how to start the session... The court is in disarray ... after the resignations of the judges and enormous political interference."

After reporters had waited for four hours without word for the hearing to begin, High Tribunal spokesman Raed Jouhi emerged to announce: "Some witnesses are abroad, so the 1st Trial Chamber has decided to delay the session until Sunday, Jan. 29."

Some of the witnesses, he said, were on the Muslim haj pilgrimage. That ended in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, some 10 days ago.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said that although some witnesses were present, others who had precedence were not.

Muddying the waters further, one lawyer said Abdel Rahman called it off in anger at being frisked by US guards and a diplomatic source said another judge was rushed to hospital -- an account no court official could confirm. One noted that even if it had happened, substitutes were always standing by.

Some human rights groups have criticised the former US occupation authority's decision to try Saddam and his aides in Iraq rather than in an international court. They say subsequent events have reinforced their view that sectarian and ethnic conflict make a fair trial in Baghdad hard to achieve.

"This musical chairs that they keep playing with the judges raises profound questions about the credibility of the court," said trial observer Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch.

Former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, on the defence team, told CNN the judges were divided on how to proceed.

"There's too much violence in the country, too much division, too much pressure on the court," he said.

"The project ought to be abandoned."

When the trial opened on October 19, presiding judge Rizgar Amin said witnesses were too afraid to appear.

The next day, a defence attorney who had been seen on television was killed by men claiming to be from the Interior Ministry. A second defence lawyer was also later killed. Another was wounded and fled Iraq.

After numerous delays, the case made some progress last month. Witnesses, many testifying behind a screen with their voices disguised, recounted horrors that befell the people of the Shi'ite town of Dujail after gunmen tried to kill Saddam there in 1982 -- 148 were killed, others tortured and jailed.

The hearings also gave Saddam and some of the seven other defendants a platform to rail against the court's legitimacy, prompting criticism of Amin, a Kurd from the autonomous north.

He then cast the proceedings into turmoil two weeks ago by resigning and complaining of pressure from the Shi'ite-led government to crack down on Saddam and speed up the process.

More problems followed after Amin's deputy on the five-man bench was named to succeed him. The independent Debaathification Committee accused Sayeed al-Hamashi, a Shi'ite, and 19 other court staff of belonging to Saddam's Baath party. He denied it.

Abdel Rahman hails from Halabja, where 5000 people died in a gas attack in 1988, a case that will be the focus of a likely future trial for genocide.

Hamashi has been moved to a different bench. A third judge quit the panel last year, citing a conflict of interest.

Many Shi'ites and Kurds, oppressed under Saddam for decades, are keen to see the 68-year-old former leader hanged quickly.

Dozens of students from religious colleges demonstrated in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf today urging his execution.

- REUTERS