"We demand the dismissal of the judge at the high tribunal and the nomination of another competent and neutral judge whose ideas are not polluted by the fascist Baath" party, said the statement from the Halabja centre against the extermination of the Kurds.

Halabja was one of the Kurdish towns worst hit by chemical weapons attacks during the Anfal campaign which killed nearly 180,000 people from 1987-1988.

Saddam and six of his lieutenants are on trial in Baghdad on charges of having ordered and carried out the repression of the Kurds in the north of the country during the military campaign.

"The attitude of (judge) Abdullah al-Ameri towards the accused does not conform to international legal practice in courtrooms worldwide or in such a tribunal," the statement said.

"His friendly attitude towards the accused has angered the families of victims and impartial observers," the statement added, before saying the judge's statement that Saddam was not a dictator "was the straw that broke the camel's back".

In Friday prayers addresses, Shiite clerics took the judge to task for not being firm enough with the former president and even defending him.

During a courtroom exchange between Saddam and a witness on the seventh day of the trial on Thursday, the judge intervened and told Saddam "You were not a dictator", and was thanked by the defendant for his remark.

Public prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon had a day earlier called on Ameri to resign, accusing him of being lenient towards the accused.

Ameri, who has 25 years experience and was also a judge under the former regime, dismissed the demand from Faroon, who also charged that the judge was allowing defendants to threaten witnesses and their lawyers.