Saddam trial halts over witness protection hitch

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The first woman witness took the stand
against Saddam Hussein on Tuesday, hidden behind a high
curtain, but problems with equipment intended to distort her
voice to protect her identity prompted a brief recess.

Shortly before the judge ordered the break, “Witness A”
broke down in tears relating how she had been forced to strip
in custody. Her voice was heavily modified through a computer
and Saddam’s defense team complained they could not understand
her.

The judge first cut off sound to the public galleries,
allowing people in court to hear her voice clearly, then
ordered a break to fix the technical problems.

Saddam and seven others are accused of crimes against
humanity over the killings of over 140 men from the Shi’ite
village of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt on the
then president in 1982.

After the woman began her testimony by reciting a Shi’ite
Muslim religious poem, the judge halted her and asked her to
keep to the facts. She said her brother and other family
members had been taken away by Saddam’s forces.