Saddam Hussein's trial resumed Thursday without any of the eight defendants in the courtroom. According to the AP, the former Iraqi president and four other defendants boycotted, and the chief judge said he barred the remainder for "disorderly behavior."
Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman stated at the start of the session, which opened more than an 90 minutes delay, that the three defendants had caused "chaos" outside the courtroom. Despite the empty chairs of the defendants, Abdel-Rahman decided the proceedings to continue and the court heard two witnesses. The trial was later adjourned for nearly two weeks.
It should be mentioned that five of the defendants, including Saddam, boycotted Wednesday's session.
The defense team chosen by Saddam and his co-defendants has demanded the tribunal to remove Abdel-Rahman, saying they will not attend until he goes. They claim Abdel-Rahman, a Kurd, is having a "personal feud" with Saddam.
Violent incidents
Two bombs went off about 20 minutes apart Thursday in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 11 Iraqis and injuring dozens, officials said. The violence started at 5 p.m. when a car bomb went off near a gas station, killing at least two people and injuring 13, Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.
At 5:20 p.m., another blast activated by a suicide car bomber ravaged a bustling outdoor market, killing nine people and wounding 57, said al-Mohammedawi and another official, Lt. Mohammed Khayoun.
Earlier, a huge blast rocked eastern Baghdad's Sadr City on Thursday, killing one woman. Locals blamed a U.S. air strike, claiming helicopters were heard flying overhead early Thursday and at least one blast targeted a house at about 1 a.m. Housewife Ikhlas Abdul-Hussein, 20, died in the explosion, the AP reported. The U.S. military said the fire took place as American forces were pursuing a "known terrorist associated with Ansar al-Sunnah."
The U.S. military also confirmed four American soldiers died in separate attacks. Three died when their patrol was hit Wednesday by a roadside bomb blast south of Baghdad, a military statement said. Another soldier was killed the same day from injurues sustained during an small-arms fire attack on his unit in southwestern Baghdad.
Elsewhere, three mortar shells landed at a northern Iraqi plant used for cleaning and processing crude oil, triggering a fire but causing no casualties. The attack took place early Thursday at the Oil Concentrating Complex, about 30 miles west of Kirkuk, police Capt. Farhad Talabani said.
In another incident, a roadside bomb killed three Iraqi troops in western Baghdad's Ghazaliyah neighborhood early Thursday, said Maj. Moussa Abdul Karim.
