Saddam trial resumes, defense case to continue
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-30 19:28
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others accused of
crimes against humanity resumed in Baghdad on Tuesday, with more defense
witnesses expected to take the stand.
Saddam Hussein speaks as his trial resumed at
the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad May 30,2006. [Reuters]
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Eight witnesses -- including two of Saddam's former interior ministers --
took the stand on Monday, testifying for Saddam, his half-brother and former
intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad Hamed
al-Bander.
Saddam and his seven co-defendants are accused of a crackdown that led to the
execution of 148 Shi'ite men and teenagers from the town of Dujail following a
failed assassination bid against him there in 1982.
If convicted, they face possible death by hanging.
Defense witnesses, initially for some of the lesser-known defendants, started
taking the stand when the trial resumed on May 15 after a three-week recess
following the completion of the prosecution case. The trial began in October.
All the defendants have pleaded not guilty, or like Saddam, were ruled to
have so pleaded after contesting the U.S.-backed court's legitimacy.
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