Defiant Saddam appears in court
Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein has made a defiant first appearance before an Iraqi judge, branding President George W Bush as the "real criminal".
He defended Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, said he was still president and rejected the court's jurisdiction.
He arrived in handcuffs and chains at the court near Baghdad airport to hear charges of war crimes and genocide.
TV pictures of the hearing were released to international broadcasters shortly after the hearing finished.
'Theatre'
The images - cleared for broadcast by the US military - were the first of Saddam Hussein since his capture in December. They showed Iraq's former president looking thin, haggard and with a trimmed, grey beard.
Saddam Hussein, described by reporters at the hearing as both defiant and downcast, denounced the proceedings as "theatre" and questioned the validity of the law he was to be tried under.
"I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq," he replied when asked to confirm his identity at the hearing, which took place inside one of his former palaces, now a sprawling US base.
The BBC's Arab affairs analyst, Magdi Abdelhadi, says this is the first time an Arab ruler has appeared before a judge to face charges related to abuse of power and the brutal oppression of his own people.
He says it is an historic moment not only for Iraq but for the entire region.
Ousted Arab rulers were usually either summarily executed or forced to flee the country, he adds.
Read more here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3855359.stm
Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein has made a defiant first appearance before an Iraqi judge, branding President George W Bush as the "real criminal".
He defended Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, said he was still president and rejected the court's jurisdiction.
He arrived in handcuffs and chains at the court near Baghdad airport to hear charges of war crimes and genocide.
TV pictures of the hearing were released to international broadcasters shortly after the hearing finished.
'Theatre'
The images - cleared for broadcast by the US military - were the first of Saddam Hussein since his capture in December. They showed Iraq's former president looking thin, haggard and with a trimmed, grey beard.
Saddam Hussein, described by reporters at the hearing as both defiant and downcast, denounced the proceedings as "theatre" and questioned the validity of the law he was to be tried under.
"I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq," he replied when asked to confirm his identity at the hearing, which took place inside one of his former palaces, now a sprawling US base.
The BBC's Arab affairs analyst, Magdi Abdelhadi, says this is the first time an Arab ruler has appeared before a judge to face charges related to abuse of power and the brutal oppression of his own people.
He says it is an historic moment not only for Iraq but for the entire region.
Ousted Arab rulers were usually either summarily executed or forced to flee the country, he adds.
Read more here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3855359.stm
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