Saddam trial adjourned until after Iraqi election

The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants has been adjourned after two witnesses testified in a truncated session which the ousted president refused to attend.

The chief judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, said the court would reconvene on 21 December after national elections next week. He added that the court would meet defence lawyers to discuss their security, following the murders of two members of the defence team.

The defendants are charged over the deaths of more than 140 Shia Muslims in retaliation for an assassination attempt against Saddam in the town of Dujail in 1982. In court yesterday, a male witness said he had been taken to Baath party headquarters, where people were "screaming because of the beatings". He said Saddam's half-brother and co-defendant Barazan Ibrahim had been present.AP