Baghdad
The head judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein quit this week, saying the Iraqi government was trying to influence his handling of the case. Judge Rizgar Amin, a Kurd, said that Shiites in the government kept complaining that he was treating Saddam and other defendants with too much deference. Such complaints, he said, amount to improper pressure. Saddam has used the trial to rant and lecture, and some officials say the ex-dictator has turned the proceedings into a propaganda tool. Amin is likely to be replaced by Said al-Hamash, one of four other judges hearing the case.
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