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Saddam claims Americans beat, tortured him
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-22 16:25
Saddam Hussein again grabbed center stage at his mass murder trial Wednesday
with claims that Americans beat and "tortured" him and other defendants while in
detention.
Former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein addresses the court during the resumption of his
trial on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq. Saddam and seven
co-defendants are on trial in the deaths of more than 140 Shiites
following a 1982 assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail,
north of Baghdad. [AP] | The deposed leader's lengthy complaint came after witnesses graphically
described how their captors administered electric shocks and used molten plastic
to rip the skin off prisoners in a crackdown following an assassination attempt
against Saddam in 1982.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad called Saddam's allegations "completely
unfounded" but said "we are prepared to investigate."
"Beyond that, we have no interest in being a part of what are clearly
courtroom antics aimed at disrupting the legal process," said Lt. Col. Barry
Johnson.
The trial's chief prosecutor, Jaafar al-Mousawi, said if authorities found
evidence of abuse Saddam could be transferred to the physical custody of Iraqi
troops.
The former Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants are on trial for the deaths
of more than 140 Shiites after the attempt on Saddam's life in the town of
Dujail, north of Baghdad.
The prosecution's first witness Wednesday testified about killings and
torture in Dujail. Ali Hassan Mohammed al-Haidari, who was 14 in 1982, said
Saddam's regime executed seven of his brothers.
Al-Haidari said that he and other residents from Dujail ¡ª including family
members ¡ª were taken to Baghdad and thrown into a security services prison,
where people from "9 to 90" were held.
Blood poured from head wounds and skin was pale from electric shocks, he
testified. Security officials would drip melted plastic hoses on detainees, only
to pull it off after it cooled, tearing skin off with it, he said.
"I cannot express all that suffering and pain we faced in the 70 days
inside," he said.
Two witnesses later testified from behind a curtain. One of them, identified
only as Witness No. 2, said security officials "attached clamps to my thumbs and
toes and private areas and tortured me with electricity until foam came out of
my mouth."
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