The Trial of Saddam Hussein and The Fallout of The War

The Trial of Saddam Hussein

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The fallout in the Middle East from the regime change in Iraq

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Saddam Boycotts Trial

Saddam Hussein, having walked out of his own trial on Tuesday with a verbal flourish of "go to hell!", has continued to boycott the trial.

Yesterday's hearing started four hours late, as the remaining performers in this "soap" discussed how to continue without the main defendant.

Once underway, the court heard from a male witness, voice disguised, who claimed to have been arrested following the assassination attempt against Saddam in Dujail.

He spoke of beatings in a Baghdad intelligence prison, and said Saddam's half-brother and co-defendant Barzan al-Tikriti was present at one point.

However, he admitted that he had been blindfolded and had been told by other detainees that it was Barzan who spoke.

Another witness described the round-up of people in Dujail:

"They told us they wanted to speak to us for 10 minutes. We were gone for four and a half years."

The trial has now been adjourned until 21 December.

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