Saddam, co-defendants forced to attend new session of trial

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein was forced to attend his trial Monday, looking haggard and wearing an Arab robe rather than his usual suit but walking in on his own, shouting "Down with Bush!"\nHis top co-defendant and half brother Barzan Ibrahim -- dressed only in an undershirt and long underwear -- struggled with guards bringing him in and sat on the floor, his back to the judge, for much of the session .\nChief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman pressed ahead after the stormy start, sparked by his decision to order Saddam and his seven co-defendants to attend the session despite a defense boycott.\nDuring the three-hour session, prosecutors made their strongest attempt yet to directly link Saddam to executions that allegedly took place in a 1982 crackdown in the Shiite town of Dujail north of Baghdad.\nThey produced documents, one with Saddam's handwriting, and put two members of Saddam's former regime on the stand as witnesses for the first time -- Ahmed Hussein Khudayer al-Samarrai, the head of Saddam's presidential office, and Hassan al-Obeidi, an intelligence officer.\nAl-Samarrai, who held his post from 1984 to 1991, then again from 1995 until the fall of the regime in April 2003, insisted he knew nothing about the events in Dujail. \n"I am not fit to be a witness in this case," he said, as Saddam smiled.\nProsecutors displayed on a screen in the courtroom a document in Arabic dated 1984 and allegedly written and signed by Saddam in which he ratified "the execution of the Dujail criminals."\nAsked whether the signature and the handwriting at the bottom of the document were Saddam's, al- Samarrai said he could not be sure. \n"I don't remember," he said. "I don't remember anything at all."\nAlso shown in court was a 1987 memo from the presidential office's legal department saying two people sentenced to death in connection with Dujail had not been executed. It suggested they be released on grounds of their old age and that those responsible for the "negligence" be investigated.\nA note written in the margin at the bottom, allegedly in Saddam's handwriting, approved the investigation but said the two people should be spared execution "because we cannot allow coincidence to be more compassionate than us even when compassion here goes to the undeserving."\nProsecutors argued the document showed Saddam was closely following the crackdown. Asked if he recognized the handwriting on the memo, al-Samarrai replied, "Mr. President" -- bringing a sharp correction from the prosecutor and the judge, "Defendant Saddam Hussein." \nAl-Obeidi, who worked as a manager in the Mukhabarat, or intelligence agency, from 1980 to 1991, said guards had forced him to testify, then argued with the prosecutor over his role, bringing laughter from Saddam.\n"This is terrorism," Saddam said of how the court treated the witness.\nTwenty-six prosecution witnesses have testified since the trial began Oct. 19, 2005, many providing heart-wrenching accounts of torture and years of imprisonment in the crackdown launched in the wake of a 1982 attempt on Saddam's life in Dujail. But none directly linked Saddam to their ordeal.\nIn an apparent attempt to speed up the proceedings, two members of the five-jurist panel trying the case read short affidavits by 23 more witnesses Monday rather than having them take the stand. Their testimony resembled that of past witnesses and their identifies were not revealed.\nSaddam and his seven co-defendants are on trial in the killing of nearly 150 Shiite Muslims in Dujail. If convicted, they could face the death penalty by hanging.\nAbdel-Rahman had ordered Saddam and his seven co-defendants to attend the session despite a defense boycott. The defense team had said it would boycott the proceedings until Abdel-Rahman is removed, alleging he is biased against their clients.\nIbrahim was physically forced into the room, shouting and struggling with guards holding him by the arms. Saddam and the other defendants walked in on their own, apparently having decided to comply with the judge's order without guards compelling them. \nBut they made clear their opposition to being ordered to attend by shouting chants against President Bush and arguing vehemently with the judge. \n"Down with Bush. Long live the nation," Saddam yelled, waving his finger before sitting down.\nEven their dress signaled their defiance. Ibrahim wore a white undershirt and brown long underwear, his head bare without the Arab headdress he insisted on wearing in past sessions as a mark of dignity.\nSaddam carried a Quran and wore a blue galabeya -- a traditional Arab robe -- with a black overcoat, a stark contrast to the tailored black suits he has worn to past sessions. He was also wearing dark bedroom slippers.\nThe defendants are brought to the court building from detention by armed guards before each day's session and remain in the building even if they refuse to enter the court.