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Iraq

Hussein claims beating in custody

By wire services
Published December 22, 2005

BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein again grabbed center stage at his mass murder trial Wednesday, suddenly standing up and surprising the courtroom with claims that he and other defendants were "beaten by Americans."

The deposed leader's lengthy complaint came after witnesses graphically described how their captors administered electric shocks and used molten plastic to rip the skin off prisoners in a crackdown after an assassination attempt against Hussein in 1982.

A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, called Hussein's allegations "completely unfounded" but said "we are prepared to investigate."

When the chief prosecutor, Jaafar al-Mousawi, said he would investigate, Hussein ridiculed him. "You are going to punish the Americans? They are your bosses," he said.

Hussein and seven co-defendants are on trial for the deaths of more than 140 Shiites after the attempt on Hussein's life in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

The prosecution's first witness Wednesday testified about killings and torture in Dujail. Ali Hassan Mohammed al-Haidari, who was 14 in 1982, said Hussein's regime executed seven of his brothers. Haidari said that he and other residents from Dujail were taken to Baghdad and thrown into prison.

Haidari said Hussein's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim, who sits behind him in the docks, appeared in the detention facility one day while Haidari was suffering from a fever. "He kicked me. This kick made me forget even the fever. He kicked me so hard. He told them don't treat him; this family does not deserve to live."

Ibrahim insulted the witness and referred to victims of Dujail as "the corpses of seven dirty dogs." During his outburst guards approached him and one muttered, "I am going to beat you," while Ibrahim continued to wag his finger in their faces. The judge appeared shocked and told the guard, "This is not appropriate."

Two witnesses later testified from behind a curtain. One of them, identified only as Witness No. 2, said security officials "attached clamps to my thumbs and toes and private areas and tortured me with electricity until foam came out of my mouth."

Hussein also interrupted a witness to ask the judge if the court could take a break for prayer. Although the witness agreed, the judge ordered the trial to continue. About 10 minutes later, Hussein swung to the left, closed his eyes and repeatedly bowed his head in prayer, the first time he has done that in court.

HUSSEIN OFFICIALS "UNDER U.S. PROTECTION": U.S. forces are providing protection for most of a group of top officials from Hussein's government who were recently freed after no charges were filed against them, Iraqi lawyer Badee Izzat Aref said Wednesday. The officials include Rihab Taha, known as "Dr. Germ" for her role in making bioweapons for Hussein's regime in the 1980s, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," a former top Baath Party official and biotech researcher, he said. Aref is the lawyer of Tariq Aziz, Hussein's former deputy prime minister, who remains in U.S. custody, and several other high-value detainees.

LONG VIEW OF INSURGENCY: The insurgency in Iraq will last at least five years, Britain's former envoy to Baghdad said Wednesday, predicting that the U.S.-led coalition would still have at least 100,000 troops in the country in 2007. A combination of foreign terrorists, Sunni extremists and Hussein loyalists could continue fighting for several years, said Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who was Britain's U.N. ambassador before the war and stepped down as London's senior representative in Baghdad last year, in an interview with the British Sky News channel's World News Tonight show.

Information from the Associated Press, the Washington Post and Knight Ridder was used in this report.

[Last modified December 22, 2005, 00:59:14]