Saddam, defense team boycott new session of trial

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein and four other defendants refused to attend a new session of their trial Wednesday and their lawyers boycotted the proceedings, demanding the removal of the chief judge, who they claim is biased against the former Iraqi leader.\nChief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman pressed ahead with court-appointed defense lawyers and only three defendants present. Five prosecution witnesses were heard before the 4 1/2 hour session was adjourned until Thursday.\nOne witness, a woman, testified that she was arrested by Saddam's security forces and tortured in prison. She said she was stripped naked, hung by her feet and kicked repeatedly in the chest by Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's intelligence chief at the time and the top co-defendant in the trial.\n"What crime have we all committed to go through this agony?" she said, speaking from behind a beige curtain to preserve her anonymity.\nAbdel-Rahman, a Kurd, kept things brisk, telling witnesses and lawyers to get to the point. His no-nonsense style underlined his determination to move on with the landmark trial despite the turmoil surrounding the court.\nIf proceedings continue without most of the defendants or any of their chosen lawyers, it could damage the fairness of a trial meant to be a landmark in the political progress of sharply divided Iraq.\nThe judge ordered the proceedings closed for the first half-hour, barring press and television from the courtroom. It was not clear whether Saddam was brought for the hearing, and court officials did not say what took place.\nWhen the session was later opened to the public, Saddam and four other co-defendants were not present.\nThe initial defense team chosen by Saddam and his seven co-defendants have petitioned the tribunal to remove Abdel-Rahman, saying they will not attend until that happens. The former Iraqi leader and four other defendants have refused to work with the replacement lawyers.\nThe defense has accused the judge of having a "personal feud" with Saddam because he was born in the village of Halabja, which was subjected to a 1988 poison gas attack allegedly ordered by Saddam. Some 5,000 Kurds were killed in that attack, including several of Abdel-Rahman's relatives.\n"The judge is an enemy to my client," Saddam's chief attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi, who stayed in the Jordanian capital, Amman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I told the court that the chief judge shouldn't be allowed to preside over the hearings because he can't be fair in this case"