Saddam's lawyers threaten to boycott trial

Defense lawyers for former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his seven aides threatened on Sunday to boycott the future court sessions, well-informed sources said.

The lawyers will not attend the next hearing of the trial in protest against the legal proceedings unless the newly-appointed chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman apologized for ordering to drag one of Saddam's aides out of the courtroom in a session held in Baghdad earlier in the day, according to the sources.

The lawyers made the threat following a chaotic session marred by a walkout of the defense team, Saddam and his two co-defendants.

Rahman expelled Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti after Tikriti refused to keep quiet and slammed the court as "illegitimate and a daughter of whore."

The chief judge also expelled one of the defense lawyers for disrupting his remarks.

Saddam's chief defense lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi disputed Rahmah 's decisions, slamming the trial as "not fair."

The whole defense team then left the court in protest.

Rejecting lawyers appointed by Rahman following the defense team's walkout, Saddam and his two co-defendants also quit the court.

Sunday's session is the eighth of the high-profile trial, which was adjourned to Wednesday.

Saddam and his seven aides are charged with crimes against humanity, including the killing of over 140 Shiite men in a northern Iraqi village after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982.

The trial has been marred by the killings of two defense lawyers, the resignation of chief judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin who complained of political pressure and successive postponements.

Source: Xinhua