Saddam Hussein’s Lawyers Meet With Judges

By HAMZA HENDAWI

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Saddam Hussein’s lawyers conferred with the judges hearing his case Wednesday in hopes of resolving "procedural" issues that delayed the start of the hearing, a court official said.

He did not elaborate, and it was not clear if the meeting was linked to the threat Saddam made on Tuesday not to attend the Wednesday session because he considered the court "unjust."

If the differences cannot be resolved, the official said the court might hold a closed session to try to resolve them. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

Saddam’s threat not to attend the Wednesday session came at the end of a daylong session Tuesday in which a woman, speaking behind a beige curtain and with her voice disguised, told of beatings, torture and sexual humiliation at the hands of security agents when she was a teenager.

At the end of the Tuesday session, the judges agreed over defense objections to meet again the following day. Saddam shouted that "I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!"