Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein refused to sign court documents Thursday in an Iraqi courtroom, where he faced charges for crimes during his 24-year rule. Saddam also refused to accept the jurisdiction of the court, branding it "theater", according to wire reports.
During the 30-minute hearing, he still referred to himself as Iraq's president. "I am Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq," Saddam twice said.
Saddam insisted on the judge referring to him as the "president of the Republic of Iraq" because "this would be respecting the will of the people," according to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV.
Saddam is facing a long list of charges. They include the killing of religious figures in 1974; gassing of Kurds in Halabja in 1988; killing the Kurdish Barzani clan in 1983; killing members of political parties in the last 30 years; the 1986-88 "Anfal" campaign of displacing Kurds; the suppression of the 1991 uprisings by Kurds and Shiites; and the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Saddam said he invaded Kuwait in 1990 "for the Iraqi people" and described Kuwaitis as "dogs". He declared "Kuwait is an Iraqi territory. It was not an invasion," according to an official who attended the hearing. "How could you defend those dogs who were going to turn Iraqi women into 10 dinar prostitutes?" he asked.
"This is all theater, the real criminal is Bush," he said. "It is for his re-election," he said about Bush. According to a commentary by Al-Jazeera, Saddam asked the judge whether he would be tried under laws from the Saddam era or "under which law?"
He could face the death penalty if convicted but an indictment is unlikely to happen for several months. Iraq's interim president Ghazi al-Yawer told an Arab newspaper that the country's new government has decided to reinstate the death penalty, which was suspended during the U.S. occupation.
Saddam told the court that the U.S. and multinational troops in Iraq were not "coalition troops but invasion troops," according to Al-Jazeera.
Saddam's defence team, which has not yet been allowed to enter Iraq, on Thursday slammed as "illegal" the Iraqi Special Tribunal trying the deposed leader. "This court is illegal since it was designated by an illegal authority, created by the occupation," one of the lawyers, Jordanian Ziad Khassawneh, said in Amman, according to AFP.
The other accusation that Saddam spoke out against was the gassing of Kurds at Halabja. "I heard about that on the television reports, saying it happened during rule of President Saddam Hussein," he told the judge.
Saddam, with a clipped beard and dressed in a smart grey suit and white shirt, arrived around noon in a convoy that included four Humvees, a Humvee ambulance and an armored bus. Other reports said he was flown by helicopter to the court and was handcuffed with a chain around his waist, although his feet were not shackled.
He was led into the building by two Iraqi correctional service officials; four other correctional officers stood at the entrance to the courtroom.
It was the first time Saddam has appeared in public since his arrest by American troops late last year. The court was in a secret location and was not open to the public.
Only a few televison cameras have been allowed into the hearing.
Also appearing were 11 of Saddam's henchmen, including deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
