Saddam defense witness says executed Shiites still alive

A witness in defense of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein who is facing charges against humanity said on Tuesday that some Shiites allegedly executed under Saddam's order were still alive.

The defense witness, the second to give testimonies during Tuesday's court session, said that 23 of the 148 Shiite men from the northern Shiite village of Dujail, who had been allegedly executed for their role in a failed assassination attempt against Saddam, were still alive.

The witness, who is from Dujail and spoke from behind a curtain, said that the 23 allegedly put to death over the Dujail case "have come back to Dujail from Iran or with the U.S. troops after the invasion of Iraq in 2003."

He also claimed that prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi attended a rally in Dujail on July 8, 2004, the same day of the assassination bid on Saddam's life in 1982.

He said a U.S. official and two prosecution witnesses took part in the rally and that the latter hailed the assassination attempt.

Mussawi, however, denied his presence at the rally.

"I was born in Baghdad and I have never been to Dujail. On July 8, 2004, I wasn't a prosecutor and I had nothing to do with the court," said Mussawi.

The third defense witness, a Dujail farmer, also said that many villagers who were said to be executed by the Saddam regime were alive.

Tuesday's session, the 30th since the trial was launched last October, began as Chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman ordered the defense team not to present new lists of defense witnesses.

"During every session, you (the defense team) bring us a new list of witnesses. In this way, the hearing of witnesses will never end," Rahman complained.

"The court will not listen to all of the witnesses in the lists and will accept no more lists," he stressed.

Saddam, for his part, retorted that the court should be patient and give the defense team enough time to present its case.

"I could have refrained from attending the court or turned my back to the court, but my respect to the judicial system pushes me to attend the court," Saddam said.

"The prosecution had a full chance to take proceedings and the court should be patient in listening to the defense witnesses and give an equal chance to the defense team," he added.

A fresh dispute erupted between Rahman and the defense team when the chief judge refused to see a video presented by the defense team as a new evidence.

Rahman said that the defense team should first submit a written request to the court for presenting the video.

Awad al-Bandar, one of Saddam's seven codefendants and former head of the revolutionary court which sentenced the 148 Shiites to death, said that the video had been used by the prosecution team in previous sessions of the trial to defend their side of the case.

"Why can the prosecution present the video and have it played while the defense team is denied the right?" he asked.

The video, which has been aired by the pan-Arab al-Arabiya satellite TV, showed that the July 8, 2004 rally in Dujail.

The first defense witness during Tuesday's session also spoke from behind a curtain.

The witness, a bodyguard of Saddam at the time of the attack in 1982, said that he was injured in the leg during a fierce exchange of fire with the assassins, adding that two of his colleagues, Hamid Malo and his brother Hassan, were killed.

Saddam and his seven codefendants are indicted for crimes against humanity including the Dujail killing.

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

Source: Xinhua