Saddam Hussein was interrogated for the first time in court Wednesday by judges and prosecutors in a new session of his trial for the killings of Shiites in the 1980s.
Saddam was the sole defendant in the courtroom on Wednesday.
This was the first opportunity in the six-month-old trial for judges and prosecutors to directly question Saddam over allegations he directed the crackdown against Dujail residents in which 140 Shiites were executed and hundreds were imprisoned, the AP reported.
Saddam has acknowledged ordering the trial in which the 140 Shiites were sentenced to death but has claimed his actions were legal because they were involved in an assassination attempt against him in the town.
In court Wednesday, Saddam demanded an international body examine signatures alleged to be his on documents the prosecution has presented concerning the crackdown, including an order approving the death sentences.
"You should resort to an impartial, international body" and not a body "that kills thousands people on the streets and tortures them ... the Interior Ministry," Saddam told Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman. "Don't venture into political matters," Abdel-Rahman replied.
"If you are scared of the Interior minister, he doesn't scare my dog," Saddam reacted.
Saddam also denounced the court as illegitimate, saying "a body whose base and formation is illegitimate and unjust can't pronounce justice. How could anyone imagine that it could issue a verdict on the Iraqi president, who stood as a sharp spear inside the eyes of those who planned and worked to poke Iraq's eyes?"
The ousted leader appeared relaxed throughout Wednesday's session as chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi asked him questions. Al-Moussawi asked Saddam about his approval for death sentences. "That is one of the duties of the president," Saddam replied. "I had the right to question the judgment. But I was convinced the evidence that was presented was sufficient" to show their guilt in the assassination attempt.
Al-Moussawi asked Saddam if he was aware that 28 of those sentenced to death were under 18 years old and presented identity cards for some of the dead minors. Saddam replied that ID cards can easily be forged.
"You can buy IDs like this in the market," he said. "Is it the responsibility of the head of the state to check the IDs of defendants and see how old he is?" "I could get a hold of an ID saying Raouf is 25 years old," he added, waving toward the judge.
Al-Moussawi also presented documents showing the approval of medals for intelligence agents involved in the crackdown and approvals for the razing of Dujail farmlands in retaliation for the assassination attempt. Al-Moussawi repeatedly asked if the signatures on the documents were Saddam's. "Any comment, matter or document signed by Saddam Hussein, and it has been proven that the handwriting and the signature are his, then I take the responsibility," Saddam replied.
