Saddam Hussein Trial Begins

Defiant, He Asks For Judge's Name, Says Court Has No Authority

(CBS/AP)  Saddam Hussein went on trial Wednesday for alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis, appearing in a tightly secured courtroom in the former headquarters of his Baath Party two years after his capture. He faces charges in a 1982 massacre of nearly 150 Shiites that could carry the death penalty if he is convicted.

When the trial began, the 68-year-old ousted Iraqi leader — looking thin with a salt-an-pepper bear in a dark grey suit and open collared white shirt — stood and asked the presiding judge: "Who are you? I want to know who you are."

"I preserve my constitutional rights as the president of Iraq," Saddam said. "I do not recognize the body that has authorized you and I don't recognize this aggression ... I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect."

The presiding judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, a Kurd, tried to get Saddam to formally identify himself but Saddam refused.

The panel of five judges will both hear the case and render a verdict in what could be the first of several trials of Saddam for atrocities carried out during his 23-year-rule.

The defendants were seated in two rows of black chairs, partitioned behind a low white metal barrier, in the center of the court directly in front of the judges bench.

Starting the session, Amin called Saddam and his seven co-defendants into the room one by one. Saddam was the last to enter, escorted by two Iraqi guards in bulletproof vests who guided him by the elbow. He glanced at journalists watching through bulletproof glass from an adjoining room. He motioned for his escorts to slow down a little.

Saddam's lawyer has said he plans to ask the court Wednesday for a three-month adjournment, and will also challenge the court's competence to hear the case.

Khalil al-Dulaimi's comments appeared to suggest that his defense strategy will focus not on the details of the massacre but rather on the broader question of the legitimacy and competence of a court set up under U.S. occupation in 2003. Iraq formally became a sovereign nation again in June 2004, but the United States continues to wield vast influence.

Nearly two years after his capture, Saddam is finally facing trial for alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis. In some ways, Iraq also will be on trial, with the world watching to see whether its new ruling class can rise above politics and prejudice and give him a fair hearing.

"The most important aspect of the trial is that it is perceived to be fair and not merely 'victor's justice' but rather have internationally accepted procedures," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk. "The prosecution will have to avoid the pitfall of allowing the trial to be a vehicle for Saddam Hussein to speak publicly and create a voice in Iraqi politics."

CBS News correspondent Lara Logan reports that Saddam's outlawed Baath Party has promised he will be able to hear mortars blowing up Americans in Baghdad, as a message of support to mark the start of his trial.

On the eve of the trial, at a makeshift memorial where the faces of the massacre victims hang from the walls, some Iraqis told CBS News that they have already made up their minds about the verdict.

"I would not control myself," one man said. "I would tear him apart."

Prosecutors are preparing other cases to bring to trial against Saddam and his officials — including for the Anfal Operation, a military crackdown on the Kurds in the late 1980s that killed some 180,000 people; the suppression of Kurdish and Shiite revolts in 1991; and the deaths of 5,000 Kurds in a 1988 poison gas attack on the village of Halabja.