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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein declared Monday that �I am not afraid of execution� during an unruly trial in which the first witnesses took the stand and testified that the former president's agents carried out random arrests, torture and killings. The trial has adjourned until Tuesday.

�I am not afraid of execution,� the former Iraqi leader said during proceedings, adding that �execution is cheaper than the shoe of an Iraqi.�

On trial for crimes against humanity, Saddam told the court, �The purpose of this trial is public opinion.�

The outburst was one of several by Saddam or his co-defendants during the session that also saw a brief walkout by his defense lawyers.

Following the witness� testimony, Saddam defended his actions and told the court that he understood the pressures upon it in his trial.

'Not afraid of execution'
He and his seven co-defendants could be executed if convicted on the charges stemming from the deaths of more than 140 Shiites in 1982.

�When I speak, I speak like your brother,� he said. �Your brother in Iraq and your brother in the nation. I am not afraid of execution. I realize there is pressure on you and I regret that I have to confront one of my sons. But I�m not doing it for myself. I�m doing it for Iraq. I�m not defending myself. But I am defending you.�

He added, �I want you to be the shooters and the swords against the enemy army.�

Earlier on Monday, his defense team walked out as the former leader yelled at the judge and Saddam�s half brother shouted �Why don�t you just execute us!� in an often unruly court session that also saw former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark speak on behalf of the deposed president.

After the lawyers walked out, Saddam, shaking his right hand, told the judge: �You are imposing lawyers on us. They are imposed lawyers. The court is imposed by itself. We reject that.�

Clark said he needed only two minutes to present his argument. But Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin at first said only Saddam�s chief lawyer could speak. Amin said the defense should submit its motion in writing and warned that if the defense walked out then the court would appoint replacement lawyers.

Saddam and his half brother Barazan Ibrahim then chanted �Long live Iraq, long live the Arab state.�

Ibrahim stood up and shouted: �Why don�t you just execute us and get rid of all of this!�

When the judge explained that he was ruling in accordance with the law, Saddam replied: �This is a law made by America and does not reflect Iraqi sovereignty.�

It was the third court session in the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants � accused in the 1982 killing of more than 140 Shiites after an assassination attempt against the president in Dujail � where Saddam at times appeared to be in control of the court as much as the judge presiding over the trial.

Clark: 'This trial can divide or heal'

After the walk-out and a 90-minute recess to resolve the issue, the court reconvened and Amin allowed Clark and ex-Qatari Justice Minister Najib al-Nueimi to speak on the questions of the legitimacy of the tribunal and safety of the lawyers.

�Reconciliation is essential,� Clark told the court. �This trial can divide or heal. Unless it is seen as absolutely fair, and fair in fact, it will divide rather than reconcile Iraq.�

At that point the judge reminded Clark that he was to speak only about the security guarantees for the defense lawyers � two of whom have been assassinated since the trial began Oct. 19.

Clark then said all parties were entitled to protection and the measures offered to protect the defense and their families were �absurd.� Clark said that without such protection, the judicial system would collapse.


Al-Nueimi then spoke about the legitimacy issue, arguing that court is not independent and was in fact set up under the U.S.-led occupation rather than by a legal Iraqi government. He said the language of the statute was unchanged from that promulgated by the former top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, and was therefore �illegitimate.�

After the lawyers spoke, the first witness to take the stand, Ahmed Hassan Mohammed, began his testimony. He said that after an assassination attempt on Saddam, security agencies took people of all ages from age 14 to over age 70.

�There were mass arrests. Women and men. Even if a child was 1-day-old they used to tell his parents, �Bring him with you,�� Mohammed said. He said he was taken to a security center where �I saw bodies of people from Dujail.�

�They were martyrs I knew,� Mohammed said, giving the name of the nine whose bodies were there.

Angry exchange

The first witness earlier exchanged insults with Saddam�s half brother, telling him �you killed a 14-year-old boy.�

�To hell,� the half brother, Ibrahim, replied.

�You and your children go to hell,� the witness replied.

The judge then asked them to avoid such exchanges.

�There was random arrests in the streets, all the forces of the (Baath) party, and Thursday became �Judgment Day� and Dujail has become a battle front,� the witness said, sometime fighting back tears. �Shootings started and nobody could leave or enter Dujail. At night, intelligence agents arrived headed by Barazan� Ibrahim.

At this point Ibrahim interrupted him, saying that �I am a patriot and I was the head of the intelligence service of Iraq.�


Source: MSNBC