BAGHDAD: Saddam Hussein shuffles into court. His voice, one that once struck fear into Iraqis, is weaker. But the hard-edged character that raised him from street fighter to president was still very much on display.

After showing up eight minutes late to court, and having walked past aides who stood up to show their loyalty, Saddam raised his head and almost insolently announced the Muslim greeting: “Peace be to the people of peace”.

And then, moments later, he moved to take control of the proceedings, launching a tirade against the chief judge because his guards had handcuffed him and taken his pencil and paper.

The former president raised his voice. He was stern. Television footage of the proceedings broke away from the outbursts of a man well known for keeping his enemies guessing.

“I will tell the police about this,” chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin told him in his cool, measured tone, the same he used to counteract Saddam’s challenge on the first court day.

But Saddam, whose name literally means “one who confronts” in Arabic, was not to be satisfied.

“I don’t want you to tell them, I want you to order them,” the 68-year-old told the judge forcefully. “They are invaders and occupiers and you have to order them.”

Unlike his seven co-defendants, several of whom were dressed in traditional Arab robes and looked at times confused by the proceedings, Saddam appeared in a white shirt, dark jacket and carrying a copy of the holy Quran.

Clerks appeared to avoid making direct eye contact with him as he sat in the front dock, inside a chest-high white steel pen, facing the five-judge panel.

Saddam may be fighting for his life but he seemed unfazed by evidence presented against him and his co-accused, some of whom were regarded as among the most ruthless officials in Iraq.

Grainy sepia-coloured video footage shot by a cameraman of Saddam’s in July 1982, on the day the assassination attempt occurred in Dujail, was shown to the court.

Saddam seemed captivated by a clip showing him questioning terrified Iraqis in Dujail on the day of the assassination attempt. He stared at a small screen beside him which played footage of him more than 23 years ago several times.

In the tape, Saddam can be heard telling aides to “take them away separately and interrogate them”, instructions that any Iraqi would dread hearing.

More than two decades on, it seemed as if he was trying to hold on to that unquestioned authority, showing the trademark defiance that led to his overthrow by US-led troops in 2003.

Although his Baath party was socialist and secular, he wanted to project an image of a religious leader, carrying a copy of the holy Quran and intoning Quranic verses before addressing the court.

It’s an image he took on in the 1990s after his invasion of Kuwait prompted crippling UN sanctions and frequent standoffs with the US. In an effort to appeal to the Islamists, Saddam adopted religion.

Sitting in a heavily fortified courthouse, he criticised the judge for not reading his memos.

“I stayed up until 4:30 in the morning writing them.”

He seemed at once furious and oblivious to what he called the “occupiers” running the court.

After his anger eased, he stood up during a recess with a big smile at his co-accused. And as the judge spoke at one point, he shook his head from side to side slowly and dismissively, seeming to smile to himself at the absurdity.—Reuters