IRAQ: Who's afraid of Saddam Hussein? To judge from the way they censored video and audio tape of his first court hearing yesterday, the US military and the new Iraqi government writes Lara Marlowe in Baghdad
The US military first released images without sound, then selected segments of Saddam and Judge Ra'id Juhi's voices.
Always a vain man, Saddam looked elegant in a grey pin-striped jacket, open-necked white shirt, black shoes and trousers. "I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq," he twice declared proudly.
A defiant, unrepentant Saddam repeatedly accused his accusers. "This is all theatre," he said in comments that will play well in parts of Iraq and the Arab world. "The real villain is Bush. Bush is the one who is doing this for his election."
Saddam arrived at the Camp Victory courtroom, which is usually used for court martials, via helicopter, lending credence to reports that he is being held at the US regional command in Doha, Qatar. Camp Victory is one of his former palaces, on a man-made lake next to Baghdad Airport.
He was handcuffed and wore a chain around his waist, but these were removed before he entered the courtroom, perhaps in response to criticism that US forces deliberately humiliated the Arabs when they broadcast images of a confused and dishevelled Saddam at the time of his capture last December.
By contrast, yesterday's Saddam was freshly coiffed. A well-trimmed salt-and-pepper beard gave him the aura of a dignified grandfather or professor. He took notes on yellow legal paper, rested his chin on his right hand, and gestured when he spoke. Some Iraqis thought he looked thin and ill, with bags under his eyes. But he has lost the whiskey-belly he had while in power, and others thought he looked more fit than ever.
Saddam became animated when the charge of invading Kuwait in 1990 came up.
"Kuwait is an Iraqi territory. It was not an invasion," he said. His regime always claimed that Kuwait was the 19th province of Iraq, as under the Ottoman Empire.
"I was looking out for Iraqi interests against those mad dogs who tried to turn Iraqi women into 10-dinar prostitutes. I defended the honour of Iraqis," he insisted. He upbraided Judge Juhi, saying: "How could you defend those dogs?" The judge replied: "Such language is not permitted in court."
At 67, Saddam is more than twice the age of the 33 year-old judge, whom he ordered to address him as "President of the Republic of Iraq, to show respect for the will of the Iraqi people".
In 2002, Saddam was re-elected in a sham poll in which he won 99 per cent of the vote.
Sovereign immunity is one of the arguments Saddam's defence will use. Referring to the invasion of Kuwait, he asked: "Is it possible to raise accusations against an official figure and this figure be treated apart from the official guarantees stipulated by the constitution and the law?"
When the charge of massacring Kurds at Halabja with cyanide gas was read out, Saddam responded as if it had nothing to do with him. "I heard about that in the media as well," he said distractedly. He repeatedly challenged Judge Juhi, who seems to lack the experience to stand up to the man whom Iraqis describe as "an old fox".
"Let me clarify this point," Saddam said. "You are a judge appointed by the people. It is not important whether you convict me or not." The fallen dictator wagged his finger, adding: "But judge me in the name of the people. From a legal standpoint, you were notified that I have lawyers. Am I not supposed to consult with my lawyers?"
Mr Mohamed al Rashdan, the Jordanian lawyer who heads a 20-strong team, has repeatedly contacted US authorities since Saddam's arrest last December, but the lawyers have not been allowed to meet their client. When Judge Juhi asked Saddam if he required a court-appointed lawyer, Saddam ridiculed him. "Don't the Americans say I have millions of dollars in Geneva?" he asked. "Why shouldn't I be able to hire a lawyer for myself?"
Mr Tim Hughes, a British lawyer who is on Saddam's legal team, told CNN from Amman that the defence will argue that Saddam cannot obtain a fair trial in Baghdad and that under Iraqi law he remains president of Iraq because he was overthrown by an illegal invasion. The argument has filtered down to ordinary people.
"I am not happy. This government has no right to judge Saddam because we did not elect them," said Mr Sa'ad Abdallah, a cleaner. "He deserves to be tried, but by a legal government."
The hearing was supposed to last only 10 minutes, but Saddam spun it out, questioning the judge about his own legitimacy. "You should introduce yourself," he lectured the judge. Judge Juhi noted that he was an investigating judge from the central court in Baghdad. "By what law was this (tribunal) formed?" Saddam grilled him. "By coalition forces," Judge Juhi replied. "So you are an Iraqi who represents the occupation forces?" Saddam continued.
Judge Juhi answered: "No, I am an Iraqi who represents Iraq. I was appointed by presidential degree under the former regime and I have been called back."
Saddam adopted the legal high ground, saying he was "originally a man of law myself", and questioning the legality of charging a president under laws he enacted.
The most heated exchange, at the end of the hearing, concerned Saddam's refusal to sign the record in the absence of his lawyers. "You don't need a lawyer for this. You can just sign," Judge Juhi said. "No. I will come back with my lawyers. We don't want to do things in a hurry here," Saddam said.
Saddam's trial is the first of an Arab dictator. Arab commentators noted it was doubly important that proceedings be perceived as fair, and that it was off to a bad start.
As Mr Abdul-Bari Atwan, the editor of Al Quds al Arabiya newspaper in London, commented on Al-Jazeera television: "It seems that they (the US and the new Iraqi government) are weak and he is strong."
Officials from the interim government called it "the trial of the century", and reiterated earlier calls for the death penalty for Saddam. Capital punishment has been reinstated since the government was sworn in on Monday.
A poll by a Baghdad radio station showed how polarised Iraqi opinion is: 47 per cent of those questioned thought the former president should be sentenced to death, while 41 per cent said he should be set free.
The censorship and the absence of Saddam's lawyers will increase a widespread perception of the Iraqi Special Tribunal as victors' justice or a kangaroo court. If the same censorship procedure is used during his trial next year, it will also strengthen the suspicion that Saddam holds embarrassing secrets about his cosy relationship with the Reagan administration during the 1980s, when the present Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld visited him in Baghdad.
The Mansour Melia hotel was once a Ba'athist stronghold where Saddam's son, Udai, ran a discotheque. The old staff have stayed on, among them a manager in the crowd that formed to watch the arraignment on the big screen in the lobby.
"Under Saddam," he noted, "if you didn't oppose the regime you didn't suffer. Everyone who worked and was respectful, Saddam didn't hurt them."
And the charges are....
Invading Kuwait, 1990
Miscalculating international reaction, Saddam Hussein orders his forces to invade Kuwait on August 2nd, 1990.
On January 17th, 1991, US-led coalition forces start Gulf War with air attacks on Iraq and occupied Kuwait after the deadline for an unconditional Iraqi withdrawal expires. Hostilities end on February 28th after US-led coalition drives Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
Suppressing Kurdish and Shia uprisings, 1991
Revolts erupt in the Kurdish north and mainly Shia south following the end of the Gulf War. The uprisings are crushed by the Republican Guards.
Anfal ethnic cleansing campaign against Kurds, 1987-88
The Iraqi government launches the al-Anfal (spoils of war) campaign to reassert its control over Kurdish areas in Iraq. Villages in targeted areas are demolished, agriculture destroyed and inhabitants forcibly moved to resettlement camps.
Gassing Kurdish villagers in Halabja, 1988
On March 16th, 1988, Iraq attacks northern Kurdish town of Halabja. Chemical weapons are used to punish inhabitants for not resisting the town's capture by Iranian forces. An estimated 5,000 people are killed.
Killing political activists over 30 years
Killing religious figures, 1974
Killing thousands of the Kurdish Barzani clan, 1983
Iraqi security forces round up around 8,000 men and boys of the Kurdish Barzani clan. They are all believed to have been killed.