BAGHDAD, April 6: The trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity resumed on Thursday without the deposed Iraqi leader, but the ex-head of his revolutionary court took the stand.

Awad Ahmad Al-Bander, the former chief judge of the revolutionary court and deputy head of Saddam’s office, was the only defendant in court for the latest hearing in the trial over the massacre of 148 Shias.

It was not known why Saddam, who was cross-examined for the first time on Wednesday since the trial began in October, was not in court.

Chief judge Rauf Abdel Rahman later adjourned the trial after two hours for a one-day hearing on April 12.

Bander is one of Saddam’s seven co-defendants accused over the massacre of villagers from Dujail after an attempt on the Iraqi leader’s life in 1982.—AFP