Saddam dodges questions from prosecutors

IRAQ: Saddam Hussein dodged questions from prosecutors cross-examining him for the first time over a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s. But he acknowledged approving death sentences for 148 Shiites, saying he was convinced they tried to assassinate him.

At times sharp and combative but often relaxed or even smiling, the former Iraqi leader declined to confirm his signature on documents. When prosecutors presented identity cards of children whose death sentences they said he signed, he maintained they were forged.

"You can buy IDs like this in the market," Saddam said Wednesday. "Is it the responsibility of the head of the state to check the IDs of defendants and see how old they are?"

Standing alone in a black suit in the defendants' pen, Saddam refrained from the outbursts he has made in previous sessions. But he denounced the court as "illegitimate" and attempted to tap into Sunni resentment of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry, which many Sunnis accuse of backing death squads.

The Interior Ministry "kills thousands of people on the streets and tortures them," Saddam said. "Don't venture into political matters," Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman admonished him. "If you are scared of the interior minister, he doesn't scare my dog," Saddam retorted.

A separate trial will be held on those charges, possibly beginning in 45 days, though some officials have questioned whether the tribunal will be able to conduct two trials simultaneously. In any case, it means a drawn-out legal process amid continued violence and political wrangling over the formation of Iraq's next government.

Chief Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi asked Saddam about his approval of the death sentences handed down by his Revolutionary Court, which prosecutors have argued gave the Shiites only a cursory trial.

"That is one of the duties of the president," Saddam replied. "I had the right to question the judgment. But I was convinced the evidence that was presented was sufficient" to show their guilt. Asked if he had read the evidence against the 148 suspects before referring them for trial, Saddam replied, "If the constitution requires the head of state to review documents before referral, then I abided by it."

"At the time this crime was committed against the head of state, Saddam Hussein, we were in a state of war," Saddam said Wednesday, referring to the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

"Don't you know that now children and women are being killed?" Saddam asked, apparently trying to shift attention to the country's current violence. "Now, the bodies are being thrown on the street as if they were dogs. ... An Iraqi is not a dog." Baghdad, Thursday, AP