Judge rules Saddam signatures 'authentic'

Saddam, dressed in a grey suit and white shirt, took his seat in the dock after a two-day recess, with his seven co-defendants also in court.

The spotlight remained on Saddam's alleged signature on documents linked to the execution of 148 Shias from the village of Dujail in the mid-1980s following a failed bid to assassinate him.

Shortly after the trial resumed, chief judge Rauf Abdel Rahman announced that "the experts verified these documents and the signatures of Saddam Hussein were found be authentic."

Abdel Rahman had adjourned the trial on Monday after only an hour to allow the prosecution more time to prove that the signatures were those of Saddam and his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi had presented a report by three handwriting experts that he said proved those claims.

Saddam lawyer Khalil Dulaimi contested the report, demanding that a neutral body make a judgement on the authenticity of the signatures.

Khamis al-Obaidi, another defence lawyer, said the experts were interior ministry employees "and not neutral. They are against the former regime."

The documents came from the Revolutionary Command Council, the former regime's highest decision-making body.