Saddam Hussein today claimed that he and three of his seven co-defendants were on hunger strike as their chaotic crimes against humanity trial continued in disarray.
Observers say that the fitful proceedings appear to be edging closer to collapse after the judge struggled to maintain order during a raucous session when, for the second consecutive day, key prosecution witnesses refused to testify.
After three hours - in which Saddam denounced the proceedings as a “soap opera” - the case was adjourned for a fortnight.
“We have been on a hunger strike for three days,” Saddam declared as the trial resumed this morning to hear its 12th day of evidence in four months. He had dispensed with the grey overcoat and galabeya robe of yesterday and returned to wearing a smart black suit
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Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half brother and former intelligence chief - who again wore long underwear in court to illustrate his failure to recognise its legitimacy - said he had been on hunger strike for two days.
Two other defendants, Awad Bandar and Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former Vice President, also said they were also refusing to eat in protest. Their claims could not be independently verified but when questioned, an official at the Baghdad court told reporters that it was working to verify an “administrative problem”.
The hearing was again punctuated by shouted exchanges between defendants and the presiding judge, Rauf Abdel Rahman, who has taken a harder line since taking over as ringmaster following the resignation of his predecessor in January.
“You kick out our lawyers, you bring in witnesses by force and those that testify against us are anonymous - is there a trial like this anywhere else in the world,” shouted Mr Ramadan.
As the judge pounded his gavel to restore order, Saddam told him to “take that hammer and knock yourself on the head.”
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After further arguments, the judge finally called the first witness, an anonymous former member of the intelligence service who refused to give evidence.
The anonymous witness, who spoke from behind a screen, claimed he had only been a minor official in the intelligence service at the time of a massacre of 150 villagers in Dujail following an attempted assassination attempt on the dictator in 1982.
He said he knew nothing of events, adding that he had been forced to testify. During cross-examination, Mr Barzan insisted on referring to the man by name, and for the first time laid out what appeared to be the basis of his defence.
He said that as head of the intelligence service, he was concerned with foreign issues rather than domestic security and the Dujail case was entirely handled by the now deceased head of general security.
Mr Barzan said that he only visited Dujail to check on the investigation and, while there, freed people he considered to have been unjustly apprehended.
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“I released all the detainees inside the hall - more than 80 persons. I swear to God I said goodbye to them one by one and apologised,” he said.
One witness testified last month that her interrogators stripped her naked and gave her electric shocks. Mr Barzan entered the room, ordered her hung by her feet then kicked her three times in the chest, she said.
Mr Barzan rejected the evidence. “Over the last few sessions, I have become convinced that all the people testifying against me are doing so just because I’m Saddam’s brother,” he said, adding that he had only been questioned for four hours during three years in custody.
When the judge tried to cut short Mr Barzan’s 30-minute speech, he retorted: “Why are you always so angry? You are like a train with a full head of steam”.
“It’s like a soap opera, it has to continue,” muttered Saddam contemptuously.
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The second witness, Fadel Selfij al-Azzawi, was also a member of the intelligence service and a former ambassador to Moscow. Again, he said that he had no knowledge of the case and was testifying against his will.
He claimed he was out of Iraq at the time of the events and distanced himself from an earlier signed testimony he had given Raed al-Juhi, the investigating judge. “He wrote the statement and I just signed it... I didn’t have my glasses when I signed it,” he said.
Lawyers for the eight defendants last month agreed to boycott the stop-start trial until a replacement was found for the judge, who is believed to have lost several relatives to a Saddam-backed gas attack on his home town of Halabja in 1988. The eight defendants have since refused to accept the defence lawyers appointed by the court as substitutes.
The judge adjourned the proceedings until February 28.
Saddam and the members of his inner circle have been accused of using every means at their disposal to derail the case. The eight defendants face the death penalty if convicted on charges including murder and torture over the massacre. They have all pleaded not guilty.