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Court hears a direct Saddam

He answers pointedly for first time in cross-examination on summary execution of 148 Shia Muslims

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI | Newsday Middle East Correspondent

April 6, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Under cross-examination, Saddam Hussein did not flinch.

For the first time in his six-month-old trial, Hussein directly answered questions yesterday from the prosecution. He sat alone in the prisoners' dock in a Baghdad courtroom, appearing relaxed and smiling often at the lead prosecutor. He dodged many questions, delivered lengthy monologues and attacked the court's legitimacy.

Hussein and seven officials of his ousted regime are on trial in the summary executions of 148 Shia Muslims - and the arrest and torture of hundreds of others - in the village of Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt on the Iraqi dictator. All eight men face death sentences.

Wearing his signature black suit and white shirt, Hussein offered a feisty - and at times rambling - defense of his actions in Dujail. As he has done in previous sessions, he admitted ordering that the 148 Shias be put on trial before Iraq's Revolutionary Court, which quickly sentenced them all to death. He insisted he was acting within his right as Iraq's president because those executed were involved in the assassination plot.

"That is one of the duties of the president," Hussein said when asked why he had approved so many death sentences. "I was convinced there was sufficient evidence to prove their guilt."

Chief prosecutor Jaafar Mussawi asked Hussein if he was aware that he had approved the execution of 28 juveniles in Dujail. Under Hussein's rule, Iraqi law stipulated that the death penalty could be applied only to those 18 and older. Mussawi read the names of the boys who were killed as court cameras broadcast their pictures, affixed to fraying identity cards.

Hussein quickly responded that the cards could be forged. "You can buy cards like these in the market," he said. "Is it the responsibility of the head of the state to check the ID of each defendant and see how old he is?"

Turning toward the chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, Hussein added, "I could get you an ID card saying Raouf is 25 years old."

The judge then chided Hussein for addressing him by only his first name.

"Your title and position are illegal and illegitimate," Hussein replied. "How can you judge the president of Iraq who stood as a spear against all who plotted against Iraq?"

Hussein also wasted little time in using the trial as a political forum. Early in the session, he condemned the Shia-controlled Interior Ministry, which has been accused by Sunnis of running death squads against them. He said the ministry "kills and tortures thousands of people on the streets of Iraq."

"Do not venture into politics," the judge warned.

"If you are frightened of the interior minister, I'm not," Hussein retorted. "He can't frighten my dog."

Mussawi presented several documents to the court, including a letter approving medals for intelligence agents involved in the Dujail crackdown and an order for the destruction of hundreds of village orchards. The prosecutor repeatedly asked Hussein whether the signatures were his.

Hussein refused to give a direct answer, implied the documents were forged and urged the judge to appoint an international panel to determine their authenticity. "Any letter or document proved to carry Saddam Hussein's signature, I will take responsibility for it," he said.

Prosecutors then played a videotape of a young Hussein vowing to kill thousands of his enemies. "Anyone who is against the revolution - if there were one, two or three or 4,000 of them, I would cut off their heads," a smiling Hussein said on the tape. "My heart would not hesitate. People like that won't receive any sympathy from me. If an ant died, I would feel sorry for it. But if people are traitors, I will kill them, no matter who they are."

He later added, "Those who die during interrogation are worth nothing. An enemy could easily die during interrogation."

Hussein's defense lawyers protested loudly, arguing the tape was irrelevant because it was made well before the Dujail incident and possibly even before Hussein became president in 1979.

"I was a young man," Hussein said, looking bewildered. "What does this have to do with the matter you're charging me with?"