Saddam thrown out again

BAGHDAD – Saddam Hussein took his seat in the dock in his genocide trial yesterday, a day after the presiding judge threw him out of court in a raucous session during which witnesses testified that women were raped while in detention during a 1980s crackdown on the Kurds.

With Saddam and his six co-defendants sitting quietly, chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa called on a Kurdish witness to take the stand. The accused have pleaded innocent to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during a military offensive against Iraq’s Kurdish population in 1987-88.Saddam and one other defendant are also charged with genocide against the Kurds.On Tuesday, the trial was interrupted when Saddam stood up in the dock, pointed his finger at the five judges and shouted a verse from Islam’s holy book, the Quran: “Fight them and God will punish them.”He appeared to be urging members of his disbanded Baath party to fight the US-backed security forces.Judge al-Khalifa cut the microphone and ordered the bailiffs to escort Saddam from the courtroom.After more interruptions, al-Khalifa had the remaining defendants ejected.It was fourth time that al-Khalifa has ejected Saddam from the court since he became chief judge on Sept.20.The seven defendants have been on trial since Aug.21. The prosecution says about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, died in the military offensive, codenamed Operation Anfal.If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to death by hanging.Nampa-APThe accused have pleaded innocent to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during a military offensive against Iraq’s Kurdish population in 1987-88.Saddam and one other defendant are also charged with genocide against the Kurds.On Tuesday, the trial was interrupted when Saddam stood up in the dock, pointed his finger at the five judges and shouted a verse from Islam’s holy book, the Quran: “Fight them and God will punish them.”He appeared to be urging members of his disbanded Baath party to fight the US-backed security forces.Judge al-Khalifa cut the microphone and ordered the bailiffs to escort Saddam from the courtroom.After more interruptions, al-Khalifa had the remaining defendants ejected.It was fourth time that al-Khalifa has ejected Saddam from the court since he became chief judge on Sept.20.The seven defendants have been on trial since Aug.21. The prosecution says about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, died in the military offensive, codenamed Operation Anfal.If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to death by hanging.Nampa-AP