Judge slams Saddam's half-brother in court

BAGHDAD, July 24 (Reuters) The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's trial on Monday accused the ousted Iraqi leader's half-brother of having blood on his hands from an early age. ''Enough blood. Your hands have been saturated with blood since your childhood,'' Raouf Abdel Rahman told Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's former intelligence chief.

Saddam, who did not appear in court, was being fed through a tube yesterday after 16 days of a hunger strike to protest against a trial that has been marred by chaos from day one and is approaching its conclusion.

The entire defence team boycotted the session, saying the court has refused to meet their demands for a fair trial. The court was adjourned until Wednesday.

Barzan is one of three others of Saddam's co-accused presumed to be taking part in the hunger strike but that did not stop him from showing his usual defiance.

He refused a court appointed lawyer and demanded he be allowed to leave the court, a request firmly turned down.

''I am here against my will,'' said Barzan, wearing a flowing white robe and traditional Arab headdress.

The former Iraqi president was receiving medical care for the hunger strike but the US military said his condition was not critical.

Three of Saddam's co-accused are presumed to be taking part in the hunger strike; Barzan, his former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, who headed Iraq's Revolutionary Court.

TIRADES, HUNGER STRIKES AND DEFIANCE Saddam, 69, has been drinking sweet coffee and liquid nourishment and receiving psychological counselling to try to persuade him to eat, said the US military.

Saddam and his seven co-defendants are on trial for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men and teenagers after an attempt on his life in the town of Dujail in 1982. They could face hanging if found guilty.

He is also awaiting trial in August for genocide against the Kurds in the late 1980s in the so-called Anfal campaign.

The Dujail trial, which US and Iraqi officials had hoped would project a new image of democracy in postwar Iraq, has been marred by the killing of three defence lawyers.

Saddam and Barzan have often launched tirades in the chamber in a trial which saw the resignation of the first chief judge in protest against what he called government interference.

Once one of the most feared men in Iraq, Barzan asked Abdel Rahman to adjourn the trial but the request was turned down.

''The decision of your lawyers not to attend the court is for the purpose of the media only. I want to ask you how long you and your lawyers will continue to play this game with the court,'' he said.

Saddam's chief defence lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, has accused US military authorities of force feeding the toppled president to make him end the hunger strike.

The defence team has questioned the legitimacy of the court, saying it could not hand down a fair verdict because it was created under US occupation.

The judge exhibited anger after Barzan said Baghdad was toppled under the boots of American troops.

Abdel Rahman hit back: ''The totalitarian dictator regime was taken down, not Baghdad.'' ''You insulted Baghdad when you said it fell under the boots of American soldiers.'' REUTERS MQA RK2152