BAGHDAD, May 15 (Reuters) - A defiant Saddam
Hussein refused to enter a plea at his trial on
Monday after he was charged with ordering the
killing and torture of hundreds of Shi'ite
villagers, telling the judge he was still Iraq's
president.
Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter during
fighting south of Baghdad on Sunday, killing two
soldiers, the U.S. military said on Monday.
The incident took place near the town of Yusifiya 15
km (9 miles) south of the capital, a stronghold of
the anti-government Sunni Arab insurgency that has
raged since U.S. forces invaded Iraq to topple
Saddam three years ago.
|
Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP
|
|
Formally charging him with crimes against humanity
for the first time since the trial began in October,
Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman read out detailed
accusations against Saddam stemming from the killing
of 148 Shi'ites after an attempt on Saddam's life in
1982 in the village of Dujail.
Rahman said the ousted president ordered the killing
and torture of hundreds in the village, including
women and children, and that he sent helicopters and
planes to pound Dujail, north of Baghdad.
Wearing a dark suit and white shirt, Saddam smiled
as he listened to the charges, holding a Koran in
his left hand.
"This statement cannot influence me or shake a hair
of my head. What matters to me is the Iraqi people
and myself," Saddam said. "I am president of Iraq by
the will of the Iraqi people."
Replying the judge said: "You were, but not now."
Rahman said some of the men and women taken prisoner
in Dujail by Saddam's security forces were tortured
with "blows to the head and electric shocks" and
that five died under torture.
He also read out the names of 32 of the 148 who were
under 18 and therefore should not have been executed
under then-existing Iraqi and international law, the
judge said.
The court then called Saddam's half-brother Barzan
al- Tikriti, former chief of the feared intelligence
security forces, who dismissed charges read out to
him as "lies".
If found guilty, Saddam, 69, faces a death sentence.
Saddam, Barzan and six other co-accused being tried
for Dujail were all formally charged with crimes
against humanity. All eight defendants either
pleaded not guilty or refused to enter a plea.
Reuters
Top |
® 