A group of 148 Shiites were sentenced to death by Saddam's Revolutionary Court for the assassination attempt, but Abdel-Rahman dismissed the court as a show trial, saying it was "swift" with "no possibility of appeal" and that some of those sentenced had already died in prison.

The first witness brought by the defense Tuesday was a son of Abdullah al-Ruwayyid and brother of Mizhar al-Ruwayyid. He told the court that he did not see either defendant with security forces that swept through the town the day of the July 8, 1982, shooting attack on Saddam's motorcade.

But the testimony turned into shouts and bickering between defense lawyers and Abdel-Rahman after the judge told the witness not to refer to Saddam as "Mr. President."

"We express our rejection over the court's interference in choosing the witness's words," chief defense lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said. "The defense team is insisting that President Saddam Hussein is the legal and legitimate president of Iraq and he is so despite the (U.S) invasion exists.

"What is built on falsehood is falsehood," he said, referring to defense arguments that the court is illegitimate because it was created under the U.S. military presence in Iraq.

"This is a pure criminal case. We don't have anything to do with politics," Abdel-Rahman shouted at the defense lawyers. "Your witness is a simple man with nothing to do with politics who is here to try to show your clients' innocence. Ask him questions."

The two al-Ruwayyids and Azzawi sat silently during the testimony, frowning and looking glum. The three former local officials in Saddam's ruling Baath Party are accused of informing on Dujail residents after the assassination attempt, leading to the deaths of some of those they pointed out to security forces.

Since the trial began, the defendants have tried to dismiss the court as illegitimate. Saddam on Monday defiantly refused to enter a plea to the charges and insisted he remained Iraq's president. Abdel-Rahman entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf, and the other defendants pleaded innocent.

The other main defense argument has been that the crackdown was a legal response to the shooting attack against Saddam, carried out by members of the Iranian-backed Shiite Dawa Party.

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