BAGHDAD: The newly-appointed judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial threw Iraq's former leader out of court on Monday, imposing his authority on a legal process marred by political controversy.A Kurdish villager, meanwhile, testified that women prisoners were often raped during the brutal 1987-1988 Anfal attacks against the Kurds that prosecutors say left 182,000 people dead.
Saddam was thrown out when he waved a sheet of yellow legal paper from the dock, declaring: "I have a request here that I don't want to be in this cage any more". But Judge Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah fired back: "I am the presiding judge. I decide about your presence here. Get him out." Bailiffs took Saddam out of the courtroom and the hearing at the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad - where Saddam is facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity - continued.