Saddam Hussein genocide trial adjourned until Oct. 9 after contentious session

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was adjourned until early next month after a contentious session Tuesday marked by shouting matches and the ejection of the former leader from the courtroom for the second day in a row.\nAll seven defendants argued loudly with the chief judge, Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, who first removed Saddam from the court, then Saddam's former defense minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai.\nThe trial was adjourned until Oct. 9 after a brief recess, without the ex-president and his six co-defendants present in the courtroom. The judge said he wanted to give the defendants time to contact their lawyers or appoint new ones after days of disruptions.\nAn official close to the court said later that al-Khalifa also threw out the remaining five defendants before the recess.\nThe outburst began when Saddam refused to remain silent after repeated requests to do so by the judge. Clutching his Quran, Saddam tried to make a statement, interrupting the prosecution's questioning of a witness.\n"You are a defendant, and I'm the judge," al-Khalifa said, telling Saddam to sit down. A defiant Saddam refused and continued speaking even though the judge shut off court microphones.\nSaddam's six co-defendants then began a shouting match.\n"Shut up. No one may speak," al-Khalifa shouted, pointing his finger at the defendant.\n"The court decided to eject Saddam Hussein from the courtroom," al-Khalifa added.\nSaddam left with a smile, ejected from the courtroom for the second time in as many days.\nAl-Tai was the most vocal during the shouting match, shouting insults at al-Khalifa and at one point saying, "I'm not sitting down" and pointing at the judge in a belligerent way. "I served in the army for 44 years, and no one dared to shout at me. We are polite and well behaved."\nAfter the shouting match, al-Khalifa ordered a one-hour recess and a curtain was abruptly closed on the journalists' gallery as microphones were cut off in the courtroom. The court then resumed to hear testimony, then was adjourned.\nSaddam and his six co-defendants have been on trial since Aug. 21 for their roles in a 1987-88 crackdown against Kurdish rebels.\nThe prosecution says about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, died in the military offensive -- code-named Operation Anfal -- which allegedly included the use of chemical weapons. The defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.\nIn an earlier exchange Tuesday, al-Khalifa warned Saddam to respect court procedures, saying he would be given an opportunity to speak but he would not be permitted to mock the proceedings.\n"You are a defendant here. You have rights and obligations," al-Khalifa told Saddam.\n"You can defend yourself, question witnesses ... and I am ready to allow you (to do so), but this is a court -- not a political forum," he said.