Wednesday, December 21 2005 17:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: A quiet and respectful Saddam Hussein sat in the defendant's chair at the resumption of his trial today (Dec 21, 2005), two weeks after he refused to attend the last session in a court he called 'unjust.'

Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial in the deaths of more than 140 Shiite Muslims following a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

The deposed President, who was wearing a dark suit but no tie today, refused to attend the previous session on Dec 7.

"I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!" he said in an outburst in court the day before.

His behaviour was calm during the early parts of the trial today. After greeting the court with a traditional 'Peace be upon you,' he sat quietly in the defendants' area and appeared to pay close attention to the proceedings.

It was Saddam's first court appearance following last week's election, when Iraqis swarmed to the polls to vote for the country's first full-term Parliament since his downfall.

During previous sessions, Saddam has been defiant and combative at times, often trying to dominate the courtroom.

He and his half brother, Barazan Ibrahim, who was head of the Iraqi intelligence during the Dujail incident, have used the procedures to protest their own conditions in detention.

The chief prosecutor in the case, Jaafar al-Mousawi told sources by telephone yesterday that five prosecution witnesses were ready to take the stand today. It would be up to the court to decided whether to hear all of them, he said. It was unclear how many more prosecution witnesses, if any, would follow.