It was unclear if Amin's Kurdish background played any role in
his selection as presiding judge. But it is sure to hold symbolic
power, because Kurds and Shiite Muslims were the two main groups that
Saddam oppressed. The case Amin will oversee concerns Shiite victims of
a 1982 massacre.
Under the Iraqi court system, Amin
and the four other judges will both hear the case and render a verdict.
The names of the other judges have not been released, and Iraqi court
officials did not allow television cameras to show their faces.
Amin,
wearing a black robe with a white collar, maintained a calm demeanor
throughout the three-hour hearing, then adjourned the proceedings until
Nov. 28.
As the trial began, Saddam asked him bluntly: "Who are you? I want to know who you are."
Amin
then tried to get Saddam to identify himself formally, but the former
dictator refused and finally sat. Amin read his name for him, calling
him the "former president of Iraq."
Among the many
Iraqis glued to their televisions to watch the trial, Amin's manner was
the subject of much discussion. Some were impressed, others thought he
was letting Saddam get away with too much.
Amin "was
very gentle," said Amira Ali, a Sunni Arab woman in Baghdad. "He
treated all the defendants with respect, while the prosecutor was so
mean and was talking in a strange accent _ and in a very sectarian way.
I hope they will keep (Amin) at the head of this court so that we can
be sure of an honest trial."
In the northern city of
Kirkuk, Zainab Wali was overjoyed to see a fellow Kurd leading the
trial of the ousted dictator. "I feel like my own brother is judging
Saddam since the judge is Kurdish," she said.
But
that didn't stop her from screaming at the television when Saddam made
his arguments: "Why are you even giving him the chance to talk?"
Amin's name was made known shortly before the trial began.
He
is a 1980 graduate of Baghdad University who first worked as a law
school teacher in his hometown and then became a judge in the region's
courts. He was appointed deputy head of a regional appeals court and
then director of Kirkuk's criminal court.
In the first years of his career, he would have thus worked under Saddam's regime.
But by 1992, the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq were autonomous, operating outside Saddam's sway.
During
Saddam's earlier court hearings, a different judge presided. That
judge, Raid Juhi, was the top investigating judge in the case. His role
was more like that of a prosecutor in the U.S. federal court system,
seeking a grand jury indictment.
_____
Associated Press writer Yahya Barazanji in northern Iraq contributed to this report.
