BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial said Thursday that he does not believe Saddam was a dictator.
Judge Abdullah al-Amiri made the remark in a friendly exchange with the deposed leader, a day after the prosecution said the judge should step down because he is biased toward the defense. Saddam and his co-defendants are being tried on charges of committing atrocities against Kurds in northern Iraq nearly two decades ago.
Questioning a Kurdish witness Thursday, Saddam said, "I wonder why this man wanted to meet with me, if I am a dictator?"
The judge interrupted: "You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator."
"Thank you," Saddam responded, bowing his head in respect.
Al-Amiri heads the five-judge panel that oversees the trial and will deliver the verdict. A Shiite Muslim in his mid-50s, he has been a judge for 25 years, serving a substantial portion of that time under Saddam's regime.
