‘You Were Not a Dictator,’ Judge Tells Hussein at Trial

The chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s trial for genocide against Iraq’s Kurdish population said in court Thursday that the deposed Iraqi president had not been a dictator.

The comment seemed sure to raise anew prosecution objections about the judge, Abdullah Amiri, a veteran Iraqi jurist who has drawn praise in court from Hussein this week.

On Wednesday, the chief prosecutor, Munqith Faroon, asked that the judge step down because, Faroon said, he had allowed Hussein to turn the proceeding into a political forum.

The exchange Thursday came during the testimony of a Kurdish villager, Abdullah Mohammed Hussein, 49, the latest in a series of witnesses to describe Iraqi military abuses during the Anfal military campaign in the late 1980s.

The campaign left as many as 100,000 Kurds dead and is the origin of the charges against Hussein and six codefendants.

As he faced Hussein in court, Mohammed Hussein said he had once met with the former Iraqi president when he made his way to Baghdad to ask about the fate of his missing wife and children.

Mohammed Hussein’s unusual testimony prompted Hussein to question how it was possible that a supposed “dictator” like himself would have agreed to an audience with a humble Kurd like Mohammed Hussein.

“You were not a dictator,” said the judge, who also served as a jurist during Hussein’s rule.

Hussein went silent for a moment, as if he himself could not believe what he had heard, prompting the judge to repeat, “You weren’t a dictator.”

The judge did not make clear exactly what he meant, and he and Hussein soon moved on to other topics.

The Kurd said the Iraqi army offensive had caused him to lose track of his wife, Aysha, and seven of his children, the youngest being a baby girl, Shleer, just over 3 months old. He said Iraqi forces who invaded his village, Sedir, took all eight into custody.

“I did not know what had happened to my wife and children,” said Mohammed Hussein, who testified that he escaped into Iran with son Ali, 9.

Six months later, after an amnesty was issued for Kurds, Mohammed Hussein said, he returned to Iraq and enlisted in the army. But he said doubt haunted him about the fate of his family, and he seized upon the idea of going to Baghdad to see Hussein.

Once in the capital, Mohammed Hussein said, he made his way to the presidential office and asked for an interview with Hussein, who would occasionally see ordinary petitioners in an effort to project a magnanimous image.

The Kurd said he was told to write a formal request and, three days later, was ushered into an office to meet with Hussein.

“I prayed to Allah to put mercy in Saddam’s heart, so that he would release my loved ones,” Mohammed Hussein testified.

However, Mohammed Hussein said, Hussein became agitated once he told him that his family had been detained during the offensive in Kurdistan.

“ ‘They were just lost within the Anfal wave!’ ” Mohammed Hussein quoted Hussein as telling him.

Mohammed Hussein said he pressed the president on the point.

“ ‘Do not talk!’ ” the witness said Hussein then told him. “ ‘Get out of here!’ ”

Mohammed Hussein said he saluted the Iraqi leader and left, but had a feeling Hussein would release his relatives. It never happened.

Several years later, Mohammed Hussein said, he was informed that Kurdish authorities had discovered three identity cards while excavating a mass grave. Among them, he said, were the documents of his wife and sons Nasir and Jamal.

Hussein seemed suspicious of the Kurd’s account and asked if the witness had kept a copy of the interview request submitted to the office of the presidency.

Mohammed Hussein said no: “Saddam took it from me.”

patrick.mcdonnell@ latimes.com

Times staff writer Suhail Ahmed contributed to this report.