IRAQ: Appearing by turns pensive and quizzical, Saddam Hussein returned to public view yesterday when Iraq's special tribunal released video images of the former president being interrogated.
The first official pictures since his court appearance last July were mute, but a tribunal statement said he was being questioned about a 1982 massacre at a Shia village north of Baghdad, one of the cases expected to arise at his trial.
Saddam (68), wore a dark jacket and open-necked white shirt, a dapper contrast to unofficial images of him in his underpants which were splashed across newspapers last month. It was a subdued appearance compared to the defiance of last July.
Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Duleimi, said he would have to view the video before commenting. The tribunal said Mr Duleimi was present during the filming. However, a member of the defence team, Giovanni di Stefano, said the former president was without legal assistance during the video and that it would be inadmissible in the trial.
The defence team has accused the tribunal of denying it proper access to the ousted dictator, withholding documents and leaking information to the press.
The Iraqi government is impatient for Saddam's trial and recently said it would start within two months but the tribunal, which is independent, said there was no timetable.
The first case is expected to relate to reprisals in Dujail in 1982 after some villagers shot at Saddam's convoy. More serious charges related to the mass slaughter of Kurds and suppression of Shia uprisings will follow.
Meanwhile, there were at least four major attacks on Iraqi and US forces yesterday, including a suicide car bombing in Saddam's home town of Tikrit, near where he was captured 18 months ago.
The driver blew himself up after being pursued by police, killing two police officers and a firefighter, police said.
In Samarra, a second suicide bomber blew up near a joint Iraqi army and police patrol, killing five members of the security forces and wounding five others. Gunmen in cars attacked a police checkpoint on the Baghdad-Baquba road, killing four policemen.
In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting an American convoy killed an 11-year-old girl and injured five Iraqis. - (Guardian service; additional reporting Reuters)