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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 10, 2006 Saddam Hussein thrown out of genocide trial By BUSHRA JUHI and JAMAL HALABY Associated Press Writers BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein and his six co-defendants were thrown out of court Tuesday after the former leader began to shout during his trial on charges of genocide against Iraq's Kurdish population. Saddam interrupted the proceedings by shouting a verse from the Quran. "Fight them and God will punish them!" Saddam yelled in what appeared to be a call for members of his disbanded Arab Baath Socialist Party to continue fighting U.S. forces in Iraq. The chief judge, Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, cut off the microphone and instructed bailiffs to escort the ex-president out of the courtroom. Co-defendant Hussein Rashid Mohammed them stood up and shouted insults at the prosecutors. When a bailiff forced the defendant back into his chair, the former army commander threw a punch. The judge had Mohammed thrown out and ordered a recess. When the trial reconvened, none of the defendants was present. A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the other defendants also were ordered out because they argued with the judges. The trial adjourned in the late afternoon until Wednesday. Before the closure, the judge told Saddam's co-defendants that he had been patient with them, but they were obstructing the trial. "I allowed you to say what you want, but you've been making problems," he said solemnly. Saddam and his co-defendants have been on trial since Aug. 21 for their roles in a bloody 1987-88 crackdown against Kurdish rebels. Saddam and his cousin "Chemical" Ali al-Majid are charged with genocide, and the others are accused of various war crimes offenses. All could face death by hanging if convicted. The defendants are represented by court-appointed lawyers because their own attorneys have boycotted proceedings since Sept. 24. They are protesting the dismissal of the first chief judge, who was seen as soft on Saddam, and the court's refusal to allow the defense time to examine thousands of documents. In Tuesday's hearing, the court heard a Kurdish woman, who testified from behind a curtain to conceal her identity, recount that women were raped and children died in detention during the 1988 campaign. Upon her request, the chief judge cut off the microphones after she was asked if she knew of any cases of pregnancy and abortion in her detention camp. Reporters in court said they heard a brief part of her testimony in which she said she saw wardens in the detention camp take women away at night, apparently to rape them. No other details were immediately available. The woman, who spent 6Â1/2 months in detention, also claimed that Saddam's forces used chemicals against the detainees. "One evening, men walked into our detention hall, wearing (chemical) suits and masks and sprayed us with a material that caused the spread of lice and other diseases, like bronchial coughing," she said in Kurdish through an Arabic interpreter. "Many children died as a result," said the woman. The witness also testified that pregnant women were treated inhumanely. She said one woman had given birth in a toilet. Fellow detainees helped her "cut the umbilical cord with broken glass and the baby was wrapped in a grain sack." She said all her family members disappeared in 1988 and are presumed dead. In later testimony, another female witness told of a young woman being raped and killed in detention by a warden. "He told her 'You are mine.' She spat in his face," she said. "He tore her clothes and raped her in front of her parents, then he shot her. She remained alive for several minutes and then died." Some of those abused by the warden committed suicide, according to the woman, who also said her father, brother and grandparents disappeared during the crackdown. She said that prisoners — including children — eventually attacked the rapist and were savagely beaten in punishment. The woman said other wardens injected female detainees with chemicals to make them sterile. ——— Bushra Juhi reported from Baghdad and Jamal Halaby from Amman, Jordan. Some material in this story came from a pool report at the trial in Baghdad. Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.