The trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants over crime charges against humanity resumed in a Baghdad court on Wednesday.

Chief judge Raouf Abdul-Rahman started the new session by asking the defense team to adhere to the court's regulations without attacking the "court and the Iraqi people."

"We allowed you (defense team and defendants) to express your attitude in a democratic way, as we have said from the beginning that this court is a transparent one," Rahman said.

"No one is allowed, whoever he is and in any name, to attack the court, its employees and Iraqi people," he stressed.

Rahman then ordered to hear the testimony of former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz about the case of Dujail.

Aziz, a key member of Saddam's inner circle, was the first defense witness for Saddam.

Aziz said that he had nothing to do with the events in Dujail in 1982, but was familiar with the context of the period that included assassination attempts against government officials including himself.

Aziz, who bore testimonies to Saddam Hussein, Barzan Ibrahim and Taha Yassin Ramadan, insisted that Ibrahim, then head of the intelligence, do not have any role in the Dujail crackdown.

"Barzan and other Mukahabarat employees had nothing to do with Dujail case. Barzan was not in charge of Dujail's case at all," he said.

"Saddam is my colleague and comrade for decades, and Barzan is my brother and my friend and he is not responsible for Dujail's events," he added.

Considering the Dujail attack as part of a series of attacks targeting all high-ranking officials of Baath regime including himself, Aziz defended the Dujail case as a proper response to the attempts.

"If the head of state comes under attack, the state is required by law to take action. If the suspects are caught with weapons, it 's only natural they should be arrested and put on trial," he said.

He also held Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite Dawa Party responsibility for assassination attempts on Saddam and other senior officials of former Baath regime which led to the Dujail case.

"I'm a victim of a criminal act conducted by this party (Dawa Party), which is in power right now. So put it on trial. Its leader was the prime minister and his deputy is the prime minister right now and they killed innocent Iraqis in 1980," Aziz said.

After the U.S-led invasion in 2003, the Dawa Party was empowered to be part of a Shiite coalition that dominates the Iraqi government.

The party's leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari was prime minister of the previous government while another leader of Dawa Party Nuri al- Maliki is incumbent prime minister of the newly-installed government.

Saddam and his seven co-defendants are facing crime charges against humanity including the killing of 148 Shiites in the northern Iraqi town of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam.

If convicted, Saddam and his aides might face death penalty.

Source: Xinhua