The judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial said today he did not think the ousted Iraqi leader was a "dictator", prompting a spokesman for the US-sponsored court to defend its impartiality.
Judge Abdulla al-Amiri made his comments one day after prosecutors demanded his resignation, complaining that he was too soft on Saddam, who had threatened to "crush the heads" of his accusers. They also complained he let Saddam make long speeches in court.
Questioning a Kurdish farmer who testified he had secured a face-to-face audience with Saddam in 1988 and begged him to spare the lives of his wife and seven children, the former president said: "If I'm a dictator, why did you come to see me?"
Judge Amiri, who has compared his approach to the trial as that of a referee seeking "fairness", then addressed Saddam politely, saying: "You are not a dictator. It is the people who surround a man who make him a dictator". He did not elaborate.
Visibly pleased, Saddam uttered a respectful "Thank you" and then regained his seat in the Baghdad courtroom.
Iraqi High Tribunal chief investigator and spokesman Raed Juhi sought during a news conference later to distance the court, set up by US occupying forces, from Amiri's comment.
"The court will continue with its neutrality and its course. The judge is only human," Juhi said.
"At the end, the judge will decide guilty or not guilty based on the evidence. This has no effect on the case."
Saddam and six former commanders face capital charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign prosecutors say left 182,000 Iraqi Kurds dead or missing. Saddam and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali", also face genocide charges.
Part of the prosecution case is expected to rest on how far Saddam was directly responsible for the actions of his troops.
Judge Amiri, who is a member of the majority Shia community which along with ethnic Kurds suffered widely under Saddam's Sunni-led rule, was not available for comment after the trial.