Baghdad, Iraq,April 6, 2006 - Saddam's Defence Counsel was denied an opportunity to argue in his favor, she was ordered to be forcibly removed from court through the court baliffs when she held up large photographs of naked Iraqi detainees at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison. "I want to show you what Americans do to prisoners," she said.

Durng his cross examination, Saddam Hussein admitted for the first time that he approved the death warrants against those conspirators who were accused of making plot to assassinate him in 1982 since the authorities had sufficient proved evidence available against them. He said that the punishment was as per law and their crime.

When prosecutor Jafar Mousawi alleged that Saddam Hussein had signed dozens of execution orders less than two days after the prisoners were sentenced, he replied "It is not possible to read every file in its entirety," "it  is done just in good faith believing the officer who presents the case." There is a charge against him for killing 148 men and boys from a particular community.

Referring to approving the orders, he said: "That is one of the duties of the President that was convinced about the evidence that was presented to him".

Later in his testimony, Saddam seemed to deny that his signatures appeared on many of the documents presented and disputed the authenticity of identification cards that prosecutors said belonged to the victims, as per Jonathan Finer, Washington Post.

He added that Saddam denies executing children when Mussawi presented the names of the 28 young boys executed after the Dujail incident, Saddam countered testily that he "would never kill an Iraqi child," and questioned the authenticity of the evidence. "I don't recognize the identification cards," Saddam said. "They are faked. I don't believe any document released now."

I.R. Editorial Comments 

There is also another opinion in the interest of justice: The underlying interpretation of  Saddam Hussein's statement could be that whatever was presented to him by his concerned officers, he might have signed in good faith, and that is normally a legal procedure.

But had he known the real details that children were involved, perhaps he would not have signed or passed the alleged order. That's the reason that Saddam said "he would never kill an Iraqi child" and there seems to be a point in his evidence.

When Defense Lawyer gave some argument in favor of Saddam Hussein, he was removed. This action strongly casts doubt in the mind of those who wish Saddam Hussein to get proper justice, irrespective of the final judgement. The argument presented by the Defence Lawyer irked the Prosecutor.

This infuriated the former leader and his lawyers, who said it had nothing to do with the events at Dujail. When defense attorney Bushra Khalil stood up and began shouting, Abdul-Rahman ordered bailiffs to remove her from the courtroom.

On her way out, she held up large photographs of naked Iraqi detainees at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison. "I want to show you what Americans do to prisoners," she said.