Former aides to confront Saddam when trial resumes

alertnet: Saddam Hussein may be confronted from the witness stand by former associates when his trial resumes this week but defence counsel will call for a halt after the chief judge resigned complaining of government interference.

"There will be former regime members" among witnesses appearing on several days of hearings starting on Tuesday and lasting up to three weeks, a Western diplomat closely involved in the U.S.-sponsored trial told reporters on Sunday.

The first trial could wind up by late May, he said, but with at least half a dozen others lined up, including an impending one on the genocide of Kurds, the process may last years.

Saddam's defence team will move for hearings to be halted, however, after presiding judge Rizgar Amin quit; he protested at political pressure on him to stop Saddam's courtroom speeches and push ahead with the trial, raising new questions about the court's independence amid ethnic and sectarian conflict.

"It's unthinkable they would press forward," said former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark as he left neighbouring Jordan for Baghdad with the team of Iraqi and foreign lawyers.

"We expect greater intimidation and pressures. That's what the message from the pressures put on judge Amin say. 'Run this railroad, get going, move and run over anyone who gets in your way'," Clark told Reuters in Amman. Read more