Saddam Hussein returned to court Tuesday for his genocide trial, two days after another panel convicted him of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death.
Saddam found his way quietly to his seat among the other six defendants charged in the Operation Anfal crackdown against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s.
The chief judge then convened the session and called the first witness, Qahar Khalil Mohammed, reported the AP.
The Anfal trial will continue while an appeal in the Dujail case is under way.
On Tuesday, Mohammed told the court that he and other men from his village surrendered to Iraqi troops after being promised that Saddam had issued an amnesty for them. Instead, the 33 men were lined up at the bottom of a hill and soldiers opened fire on them. Mohammed said he was wounded but survived and managed to get away.
Saddam has brushed aside the villager's account of an alleged massacre, saying there was no proof. "There is nobody to check this testimony. Who supports his claim? Nobody," he said. "Will that way lead us to the truth?" asked the deposed leader.
