Hussein alleges abuse in courtroom outburst

BAGHDAD -- Saddam Hussein erupted again during his trial yesterday, claiming in a 20-minute tirade that he and his codefendants have been beaten and tortured by American captors.

''Yes, we were beaten by the Americans. And we were tortured, every one of us. This one, they hit him with the back of the rifles till he fell," he said pointing to codefendant Barzan Ibrahim, his half-brother. ''I was beaten on every part of my body, and marks are still on my body."

The outburst followed an otherwise subdued performance by Hussein earlier in the day, during which he had sat impassively, praying quietly in his seat at one point, listening to a witness describe how he and members of his family were arrested, tortured, and in some cases executed by members of Hussein's regime in 1982.

The charges stem from the alleged 1982 killing by Iraqi security forces of more than 140 people in the mostly Shi'ite Muslim town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, following an assassination attempt on Hussein that took place there.

During an argument with a prosecutor, Hussein asked if the US forces would be punished for abusing him and other defendants.

''If the multinational forces are abusing your position, from this platform I ask the coalition forces to turn over all defendants to the Iraqi forces," the prosecutor said. ''The treatment will certainly be different from what they suffered from the coalition."

Christopher Reid, a US Embassy official in Baghdad, denied Hussein's accusations.

''I think these are bogus claims," he said. ''They're designed to ambush the court, and they're designed to play on or play against some of the testimony we've had so far."

The presiding judge did not respond.

The trial has at times veered out of the control of court officials amid outbursts from defendants and their attorneys, two of whom have been killed since the often-delayed the trial began in October.

Earlier yesterday, a calmer, less combative Hussein had returned to court after a two-week recess and sat impassively while a witness described the torture and execution of family members.

Hussein, dressed in his usual dark suit, a Koran resting in his lap, smiled and chuckled as his name was called at the start of proceedings. He had skipped the trial's last session Dec. 7, a day after calling the trial ''unjust" and telling the court to ''go to hell."

The first witness called yesterday was Ali Hassan Muhammed Haydari, a 37-year-old media professional with gray-flecked hair and beard. The brother of a previous witness, he said seven of his brothers were executed. All 43 of his family members, between the ages of 6 and 77, were imprisoned following the assassination attempt on Hussein, he said.

''They tortured people by electricity and molded plastic cables and poured them on people, said Haydari, who was 14 at the time. ''They also burned some people's feet. We stayed in intelligence center for 70 days with continuous torture. They gave us one loaf of bread a day per person. In the morning they gave us soup, and we saw the guards adding water to the soup before they give it to us. . . . My 17-year-old brother was beaten so badly on his back that he had to sleep on his front for 70 days."

Unlike some previous witnesses, Haydari identified some of the defendants as directly involved in the events.

Defense attorneys have often argued that their clients cannot be linked by witnesses to the crimes.

Haydari said Barzan Ibrahim, who sits behind him in the docks, appeared in the detention facility one day while Haydari was suffering from a fever. ''He kicked me," Haydari said. ''This kick made me forget even the fever. He kicked me so hard. He told them don't treat him; this family does not deserve to live."

He testified that he and much of his family were later sent to Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad.

Just before Haydari told the court the names of each of his brothers who was killed, Hussein, who had spent most of his time during the testimony scribbling notes on a legal pad, asked the court if it could recess so he could pray.

Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin said prayer could come after the witness's testimony was complete. Hussein, his head bowed, then began praying quietly in his seat.

Prior to the start of testimony, one of Hussein's defense attorneys, Najib Nuaimi, told the chief judge that the lawyers still faced unacceptable levels of danger.

''We came and we were threatened in the airport," Nuaimi said. ''From the security standpoint, we cannot continue with this case if we have deficiency in the security. We would like to put that on the record."