On Scene: Saddam Tries Another Trial Boycott

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The Iraqi government's move to change the presiding judge of the trial has the courtroom in some upheaval. Saddam has been ejected three times in as many sessions. The defense attorneys refuse to attend. The new, court-appointed defense attorneys have had just a week to catch up on the complex case, which requires a command of Iraqi military jargon and weapons expertise. In court on Monday, the judge had to repeatedly ask the defense attorneys to clarify their questions and dismissed multiple queries as "irrelevant." The defendants themselves, frustrated at the sometimes-deficient cross-examination by their lawyers, pointed out discrepancies in the testimony.

The defense team is hoping that their boycott will stall the trial or return the ousted judge. But there is no intention to do either, says an Iraqi government official close to the court. "It can proceed legally, and it will. "

The trial is unlikely to proceed, however, without Saddam inside the rust-colored metal bars of the dock. Even if the former dictator refuses to attend, the court can demand that Saddam be brought before the judge by force. Guards used force during the Dujail case in February to bring Saddam and three other defendants, disheveled and in their pyjamas, to hear testimony. Saddam then claimed he was on a hunger strike to protest his rough treatment by then chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman.

The U.S. advisors to the court want Saddam in the courtroom to face his accusers. The Regime Crimes Liaison Office (RCLO) that provides training and logistical support to the court "was not happy about Saddam being kicked out," said an Iraqi official. "They would rather see him there all the time." The U.S. embassy does not comment on the private discussions with the court, said spokesman Lou Fintor, adding that "the Iraqi people deserve to see those that committed crimes during the former regime brought to justice." But Saddam hasn't made a friend on the bench. Just before he was ejected Monday, Saddam got personal. Handing out one of the most insulting slurs in post-Saddam Iraq, the former dictator told Judge Mohammad he remembered his father: as an informer for his intelligence service.