Pressure on Saddam judge to reconsider

Rizkar Mohammed Amin, a chief judge on the Iraqi High Tribunal, handed in his notice on January 10, according to an official close to the court, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Efforts are underway to try to get him to change his mind," he told AFP, adding that the resignation had not yet been accepted.

While the trial has taken up only seven courtroom days since it started on October 19, Amin has come under pressure both at home and abroad for allowing what critics see as theatrics by the defence counsels and the accused.

Amin would be the second judge on the five-strong panel trying Saddam and seven former aides to quit since the trial began in a high-security courtroom in Baghdad's Green Zone.

A spokeswoman for the office of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, who is currently out of the country, confirmed that his chief of staff received Amin's letter of resignation a few days ago.

Several other judges from the tribunal travelled to Amin's home city of Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan on Saturday in a bid to persuade him to reconsider, said a source close to the Kurdish judge, also on condition of anonymity.

Amin is the only judge in the Saddam trial who has allowed himself to be identified in court. The other four remain anonymous for fear of reprisals for taking part in the high-profile case.

Two defence lawyers were shot dead shortly after the opening of the trial.

Amin wants to step down because of strong criticism by politicians at the way he has allowed the former president and his seven co-defendants to speak out in court and disrupt proceedings, the official close the tribunal said.

The eight men are charged with crimes against humanity for ordering the massacre of more than 140 Shiites from the town of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt on the former Iraqi leader.

Saddam and his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti have repeatedly sought to disrupt proceedings, with the former Iraqi leader alleging he was tortured in detention by US forces.