Judge slams Saddam’s half-brother in court

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s
trial on Monday accused the ousted Iraqi leader’s half-brother
of having blood on his hands from an early age.

“Enough blood. Your hands have been saturated with blood
since your childhood,” Raouf Abdel Rahman told Barzan
al-Tikriti, Saddam’s former intelligence chief.

Saddam, who did not appear in court, was being fed through
a tube on Sunday after 16 days of a hunger strike to protest
against a trial that has been marred by chaos from day one and
is approaching its conclusion.

The entire defense team boycotted the session, saying the
court has refused to meet their demands for a fair trial. The
court was adjourned until Wednesday.

Barzan is one of three others of Saddam’s co-accused
presumed to be taking part in the hunger strike but that did
not stop him from showing his usual defiance.

He refused a court appointed lawyer and demanded he be
allowed to leave the court, a request firmly turned down.

“I am here against my will,” said Barzan, wearing a flowing
white robe and traditional Arab headdress.

The former Iraqi president was receiving medical care for
the hunger strike but the U.S. military said his condition was
not critical.

Three of Saddam’s co-accused are presumed to be taking part
in the hunger strike; Barzan, his former vice president, Taha
Yassin Ramadan, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, who headed Iraq’s
Revolutionary Court.

TIRADES, HUNGER STRIKES AND DEFIANCE

Saddam, 69, has been drinking sweet coffee and liquid
nourishment and receiving psychological counseling to try to
persuade him to eat, said the U.S. military.

Saddam and his seven co-defendants are on trial for the
killing of 148 Shi’ite men and teenagers after an attempt on
his life in the town of Dujail in 1982. They could face hanging
if found guilty.

He is also awaiting trial in August for genocide against
the Kurds in the late 1980s in the so-called Anfal campaign.

The Dujail trial, which U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped
would project a new image of democracy in postwar Iraq, has
been marred by the killing of three defense lawyers.

Saddam and Barzan have often launched tirades in the
chamber in a trial which saw the resignation of the first chief
judge in protest against what he called government
interference.

Once one of the most feared men in Iraq, Barzan asked Abdel
Rahman to adjourn the trial but the request was turned down.

“The decision of your lawyers not to attend the court is
for the purpose of the media only. I want to ask you how long
you and your lawyers will continue to play this game with the
court,” he said.

Saddam’s chief defense lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, has
accused U.S. military authorities of force feeding the toppled
president to make him end the hunger strike.

The defense team has questioned the legitimacy of the
court, saying it could not hand down a fair verdict because it
was created under U.S. occupation.

The judge exhibited anger after Barzan said Baghdad was
toppled under the boots of American troops.

Abdel Rahman hit back: “The totalitarian dictator regime
was taken down, not Baghdad.”

“You insulted Baghdad when you said it fell under the boots
of American soldiers.”