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Iraq

Turmoil postpones Hussein trial

BAGHDAD - Judges in the trial of Saddam Hussein tried to remove a newly appointed chief judge Tuesday, a dispute that forced an abrupt postponement of the proceedings and deepened the disruption in what was supposed to be a landmark in Iraq's political progress.

Hussein's lawyers were quick to capitalize on the disarray, saying the confusion provided fresh evidence the former leader could not get a fair trial in Iraq. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a member of the defense team, said the trial should be abandoned.

Since its Oct. 19 start, the trial has been defined by delays, chaotic outbursts by Hussein, the assassination of two defense lawyers and a judge's decision to step down after learning that one of the defendants may have been responsible for his brother's execution.

After the trial's last session on Dec. 22, the confusion worsened.

The chief judge resigned, complaining about criticism by politicians that he was not doing enough to rein in Hussein. Saeed al-Hammash, the member of the five-judge panel initially named to replace him, was suddenly removed, and a new chief judge, Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman, was brought in.

After a nearly five-hour delay Tuesday, court official Raid Juhi told reporters the hearing had been put off until Sunday because several witnesses and complainants were performing the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and could not appear in court.

The annual Muslim ritual ended nearly two weeks ago, and Tuesday's session had been scheduled more than a month ago. Juhi refused to take questions.

But two judges involved in the case told the Associated Press the real reason for the delay was disagreement over who should replace chief judge Rizqar Mohammed Amin, a Kurd who had shown patience and composure in dealing with repeated attempts by Hussein and others to delay the proceedings.

The two judges were members of the tribunal, though not necessarily sitting on the panel hearing the current case. They spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity since court rules bar most judges from being named or speaking to the media.

"There's too much violence in the country, there's too much division and too much pressure on the court," Clark told CNN after Tuesday's postponement. "The project ought to be abandoned. It was a creature of the United States in the first place."

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped the trial would mark a political turning point. Instead, it has heightened divisions.

Sunni Arabs sympathetic to the former leader, their patron, were heartened by Hussein's outbursts during the hearings.

But Shiites and Kurds, who make up about 80 percent of Iraq's estimated 27-million people and bore the brunt of Hussein's oppression, found the freedom he has had in the courtroom an affront.

Hussein, his half brother Barzan Ibrahim and six other defendants are on trial in the killing of more than 140 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 attempt on Saddam's life in the town of Dujail.

The case is one of several being prepared against Hussein and members of his regime. They include the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the suppression of Kurdish and Shiite revolts in 1991 and the alleged 1988 gas attack by Hussein's army against the Kurdish town of Halabja. Some 5,000 people died in that attack, including several relatives of the Halabja-born Abdel-Rahman, the judge named to take over from Amin.

The Dujail case was chosen expressly because officials believed it would be quick to try.

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 00:56:11]