In his first session presiding over the trial of Saddam Hussein, Judge Rauf Rashid Abdul-Rahman on Sunday expelled half the defendants from the courtroom in a move that led to the entire defence team walking out, reports Doaa El-Bey Abdul-Rahman began the session by warning that defendants who failed to abide by the rules of the court would be expelled and the trial continue in their absence. Following the expulsion of his half-brother and co-defendant Barzan Al-Tikriti, and the departure of the defence team, Saddam exploded in a dramatic outburst. After rejecting a court-appointed defence team Saddam then left the court followed by two other co-defendants. Abdul- Rahman continued with the session, which lasted four and a half hours, during which the court-appointed defence declined to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. The incident once again raises questions over the fairness of the trial. To gain re-admittance to the courtroom Saddam's defence team must now petition the panel of judges. Instead, they called for the dismissal of Abdul-Rahman "for bias" and for the trial to be relocated. They have threatened to boycott future sessions. Abdul-Rahman replaced Judge Rizkar Amin who resigned last month following complaints by the Iraqi government that he was too lenient towards the defendants and had allowed Saddam to dominate proceedings with repeated outbursts. But that Amin should have been replaced by a Kurd from Halabja, the town that bore the brunt of chemical attacks by Iraqi forces in 1998 that left thousands dead was criticised by many as compromising the impartiality of the court. Family members of Abdul- Rahman, it has been reported, perished in the attack. He has, in addition, faced arrest and torture under Saddam's rule. Sunday's chaotic session underlined the difficulties of staging an impartial trial in a country divided along sectarian and religious lines. Should a Shia judge have been appointed to preside similar charges of bias would have been raised, while a Sunni judge would face allegations of favouritism. Saddam's lawyers are expected to reiterate calls for him to be tried by an international court outside Iraq. Saddam and his co-defendants are accused of the deaths of 140 Shias following a failed assassination attempt against the former president in Dujail -- a Shia town north of Baghdad. If found guilty they could face the death penalty. The eighth session, initially scheduled for last week, was delayed after some members of the five-judge panel withheld approval over the appointment of Abdul-Rahman.
