Saddam trial adjourned until December 5
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-28 20:45

The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants was adjourned on Monday until December 5 to give one defendant time to get legal representation, the chief judge said.

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein speaks to Presiding Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin in Baghdad November 28, 2005. The trial of Saddam and seven aides on charges of crimes against humanity resumed in a fortified Baghdad courtroom on Monday, with witnesses expected to take the stand for the first time. [Reuters]

Former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan had rejected a lawyer appointed by the court after his was killed after the first session of the trial in October.

The judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, ordered the adjournment so the problem could be resolved.

Another defendant, Barzan al-Tikriti, one of Saddam's three younger half-brothers, told the judge he had cancer and that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari had agreed that he could receive medical treatment outside the prison where he is held.

When the judge said he had not seen any request for this, Tikriti said: "This is indirect death."