Saddam stays away as trial moves on

Baghdad: Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and other high-profile defendants refused to attend Wednesday's session of their trial, as the embattled tribunal finally completed the first phase of testimony.

Neither Saddam, his defense team, nor any of the three other well-known defendants were at the hearing after they all quit the stormy first session of the trial under new judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman's control on Sunday.

Wednesday's session saw the trial complete the complainants' phase, with testimony directed against the defendants, and move on to the hearing of witnesses.

In the course of the day's testimony, two complainants and three witnesses related the chilling torture tactics, which they had endured or witnessed at the hands of the old regime.

The eight defendants are on trial over the massacre of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail after an assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982 and face the death penalty if convicted.

One of the more minor defendants, a former local Baath party official, also refused to attend, leaving just three of the original defendants in an accused box marked by five empty black seats.

The judge, whose tough approach has courted fresh controversy for the court, said the trial would continue in any case, with the remaining defendants to be tried in absentia.

Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and former top judge Awad al-Bandar joined the ousted Iraqi president in boycotting the session.

The absent Barzan featured prominently in Wednesday's testimony, with one female witness describing how he had presided over her torture and humiliation.

"Barzan personally supervised my stripping and then kicked me three times on my naked chest. I still feel the pain and for many years I was unable to breathe," said the woman from behind a curtain.

Another witness also said her torture was frequently watched by Barzan, adding that he nearly killed her at one point.

Testimony, however, started only after a three-hour delay and a closed session to sort out a procedural wrangle.