The trial of Saddam Hussein was adjourned Tuesday, all parties taken aback by a last minute switch of the presiding judge, writes Doaa El-Bey The court trying Saddam Hussein cancelled the resumption of his trial Tuesday, delaying the session until 29 January, after some judges opposed the appointment of a new presiding judge. Confusion followed the change of the chief judge just one day before the resumption of proceedings. Raouf Rashid Abdul-Rahman, a Kurd, was appointed to replace Mohamed Rizgar Amin, another Kurd, who resigned 15 January. Said Al-Hammash, Amin's deputy, who had been expected to replace him, was ousted from the five-member panel of judges hearing evidence against Saddam and seven co-defendants. The delay and judges' dispute called into question the fairness of the trial and shook the public's confidence in it. "These are all negative signs that tarnish the picture of the trial and thus affect the credibility of the court and the confidence of the public in it," Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish politician said. He criticised the campaign that the government led against Amin in accusing him of being lenient with defendants, giving them too much freedom to talk, and failing to control trial proceedings. In previous sessions, Amin displayed patience in the face of what appeared, to some, to be attempts by Saddam to delay or derail the proceedings. During the sessions, Saddam complained that he was tortured, openly prayed in court when Amin would not allow a recess and frequently lectured the judge on patriotism. Othman did not regard Amin as lenient. He said that he tried to do his duty as a judge in an objective manner. "The fact that he is a Kurd or Iraqi did not interfere with his manner in running the sessions. He is a judge; he only wanted a fair, legal and professional trial without being with or against Saddam," he said. Yet as a result of the government's accusations, Amin submitted his resignation. Court authorities repeatedly failed to convince him to reverse his decision. Initially, court officials said Amin's deputy, Al-Hammash, a Shia, would replace him. But the De-Baathification Committee -- the government body responsible for removing members of Saddam's Baath Party from official posts -- complained last week that Al-Hammash should not serve as chief judge because of his one-time membership in the former ruling party. Al-Hammash denied ever joining the Baath Party. Although court officials insisted that the move was not connected to the Baath allegation, Al-Hammash was removed from the case entirely. The interference of the government in the trial was again criticised by Othman. "Why didn't the De-Baathification Committee mention these allegation against Al-Hammash earlier, well before the trial?" he asked. Abdul-Rahman, who takes over as presiding judge, was born in Halabja, the town where Saddam's forces allegedly launched a poison gas attack in 1988 that killed 5,000 Kurds. Some relatives of Abdul-Rahman were said to be among the dead. Though questioned by some, including former CIA analysts, Halabja has come to be regarded as a symbol of Saddam's repression of the Kurds. Fears are now that Saddam cannot be assured a fair trail when the presiding judge himself comes from a town that was allegedly gassed on the orders of his regime. Abdul-Rahman has been serving on a back-up panel and has been following the trial since it began last October. He served as an appeals court judge in the northern region of Kurdistan. In his first move in the Saddam trial, the new chief judge underlined strict regulations on the media in an attempt to run a tighter court. Before the trial began, he issued a statement banning reporters from revealing which building in which the trial is being held, or security measures onsite. Reporters are to watch the trial from a press gallery that is separated from the courtroom by glass, and listen to the proceedings via headsets. A curtain is drawn when the session goes into recess or is adjourned. The adjourned session was the eighth in the current trial, which began 19 October. The case against Saddam and seven co-defendants concerns the killings of 146 Shias in a crackdown that followed a failed assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982 in the town of Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad. Saddam and co- defendants could face the death penalty if found guilty. So far, the trial has been dramatic. In addition to the withdrawal of the chief judge, two defence lawyers have been assassinated since the trial began, a third fleeing Iraq. Proceedings are likely to last through May or June, insofar as this trial is at all predictable.
