World

Iraqi Sunnis Fear Shiite Gov't

November 29, 2005 / 4:05 AM EST / CBS/AP

Sunni Muslim civilians are increasingly reporting that men in their families have been abducted and in many cases, tortured and killed, by men they say appeared to be officers of the Shiite-led Iraqi government.

According to the New York Times, one of Baghdad's largest mosques has begun collecting data on disappeared Sunnis and so far has the names of 700 men who are said to be missing or killed in such incidents within the past four months. The Iraqi Interior Ministry says reports of government involvement are "totally wrong."

The tension between the Sunnis - many of whom have been involved in the insurgency - and the Shiites is not new. It was reignited by the ouster of Saddam Hussein, whose government favored Sunnis, the installation of the new government, which is dominated by Shiites, and the national elections, coming up on Dec. 15th.

Monday, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was back in court for the next leg of his trial on charges of crimes against humanity. Apparently attempting to take control of the courtroom, Saddam angrily complained to the judge about being shackled and mistreated by "occupiers and invaders."

Former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, who is an advisor on Saddam's defense team, says it will be "extremely difficult" for Saddam to get a fair trial. Other defendants spoke out too, complaining of their treatment in detention or dissatisfaction with their court-appointed counsel.

After a short session during which the first testimony was read into the record, Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin adjourned the trial until Dec. 5 to allow time to find replacements for two defense lawyers who were slain and another who fled the country after he was wounded.

Six defense attorneys failed to show up, and while the court appointed some replacements, security is obviously a major concern, reports CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick.

Saddam and seven co-defendants are charged in the murder of more than 140 Shiite Muslim men and boys after an assassination attempt against the former president in the Shiite town of Dujail in 1982, reports

CBS News correspondent Lara Logan (video)

. Convictions could bring a sentence of death by hanging. The former Iraqi president has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, torture, forced expulsions and illegal detention.

In other developments:

Depending on how next month's elections go in Iraq, more than 20,000 U.S. troops could leave by the first of the year and another 20,000 could come out by July, reports CBS News Chief White House correspondent John Roberts. Mr. Bush will travel to different parts of America to discuss the administration's plans for Iraq. Roberts reports that on Wednesday during a talk at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Mr. Bush will

lay the groundwork (video)

for a discussion of the drawdown of troops in Iraq.

Gunmen ambushed a bus Monday carrying British Muslims to Shiite shrines south of Baghdad, killing two Britons and wounding three others. The U.S. Embassy confirmed an American is missing in Iraq — presumably one of four Western aid workers who disappeared over the weekend.

Two Sunni Arab politicians were slain in separate attacks — part of an escalation in violence which U.S. and Iraqi officials predicted in advance of the Dec. 15 national parliamentary elections. Gunmen killed a senior official of Iraq's largest Sunni party and his two bodyguards as they drove Monday from Fallujah to Baghdad, the Iraqi Islamic Party said. Ayad al-Izzi, a member of the party's political bureau, was a candidate in the parliamentary election. The second death involved Ghalib al-Sideri, a public relations director for the Sunni-led Council for National Dialogue, was shot and killed Monday in southern Baghdad, police said.

Iraqi police revealed Sunday that they arrested eight Sunni Arabs over the weekend on charges of plotting to kill the judge who prepared the indictment of Saddam Hussein.

Monday, dressed in black trousers and a gray jacket, Saddam was the last of the eight to enter.

"He had that real Saddam attitude from the moment he stepped into that room, and he smiled at his codefendants, he smiled at the judge as he walked past," reports CBS News correspondent Lara Logan, who is in Baghdad covering the trial.

Once inside, Saddam had a brief but heated exchange with the chief judge, complaining that he had to walk up four flights of stairs in shackles and carrying a copy of the Muslim holy book Quran because the elevator wasn't working.

The judge said he would tell the police not to let that happen again. Saddam snapped: "You are the chief judge. I don't want you to tell them. I want you to order them. They are in our country. You have the sovereignty. You are Iraqi and they are foreigners and occupiers. They are invaders. You should order them."

Saddam complained that he was escorted up the stairs by "foreign guards" and that some of his papers had been taken.

"How can a defendant defend himself if his pen was taken. Saddam Hussein's pen and papers were taken. I don't mean a white paper. There are papers downstairs that include my remarks in which I express my opinion," he said.

Logan reports that the judge may have indulged the constant interruptions for the sake of a fair trial, but he seemed

in danger of losing control (video).

The courts patience was not well-received by a government anxious for a quick conviction. (Read Logan's observations after being in the courtroom.)

After the judge announced the adjournment, defense lawyers protested that they needed more time and suggested 30 days. The judge suspended the proceedings for about 10 minutes and then announced that the Dec. 5 date stands.

"Trials shouldn't proceed anywhere, in America or Iraq, unless the defense attorneys have access to the information and documents to which they are entitled and are legitimately ready for trial," says CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "That hasn't apparently happened here, for a variety of reasons, so we shouldn't be terribly surprised that things are off to such a slow start."

Saddam then complained that he had written three or four memos to the judge since the Oct. 19 session but received no response. The judge said