Managers

Monday's session began with Saddam displaying the same defiance he showed at the opening of the trial on October 19. Saddam arrived late and then upbraided the judge when asked why. ''They brought me here to the door and I was handcuffed. They cannot bring in the defendant in handcuffs,'' he said.

Amin ordered the former president and his co-defendants to be unshackled by their guards before they entered the courtroom. Saddam complained he had had to walk up four flights of stairs because of a broken elevator in the courthouse.

''I will tell the police about this,'' Amin said. ''I don't want you to tell them, I want you to order them,'' Saddam replied. ''They are invaders and occupiers and you have to order them.'' He then argued with the judge about his rights and his jailers' action in taking away his pen and paper.

Saddam and his co-accused are charged with crimes against humanity in relation to the deaths of 148 men from North Baghdad. -- Reuters

THE DUJAIL TRIAL

It Some questions and answers about the tribunal, its structure, and how the trial is being conducted:

WHO'S TRYING SADDAM?

Saddam and his co-defendants are being tried before what was originally called the Iraqi Special Tribunal, established in December 2003 by US-led occupation authorities. New statutes making it a body established by Iraq's elected interim National Assembly and changing its name to the Iraqi High Tribunal. The tribunal consists of two trial chambers with five judges in each.

WHO BROUGHT THE CHARGES?

The tribunal has 20 investigative judges, led by a chief investigator, who are responsible for gathering evidence against suspects. In Saddam's case, the evidence of ordering the killing of more than 140 Shiite Muslim men from North Baghdad, after a 1982 attempt on the former president's life, was gathered by chief investigative judge Raad Jouhi.

WHO IS DEFENDING SADDAM AND THE OTHERS?

The former president is being defended by a small team of lawyers led by Khalil Dulaimi, an Iraqi with little experience in major criminal