Saddam Hussein and four co-accused refused to attend their trial today, along with their defence team, who said they would not return to court until the chief judge, whom they accuse of bias, resigned.
Chief judge Raouf Abdel Rahman said he would proceed without them but then suspended proceedings until tomorrow, according to reports.
Earlier it was reported that proceedings in the trial had been delayed today for "procedural issues".
Saddam's chief counsel, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said earlier the defence team would boycott all sessions until the new chief judge, Raouf Abdel Rahman, resigned.
He said Mr Abdel Rahman, a Kurd, was biased and the US-sponsored court illegitimate.
Meanwhile, a bomb exploded alongside a group of Iraqi men waiting for work in eastern Baghdad today, killing at least eight and wounding more than 50.
Col Ahmed Abboud, chief of police in the New Baghdad area where the explosion happened, cited eyewitnesses saying a man placed a bag full of explosives near a cart that sold tea to men waiting near a crowded intersection for a day's work.
"The people did not suspect him when he first came with the bag because all workers carry their food in bags," Mr Abboud said. The attack happened at about 7am local time near the Sunni Muslim al-Samaraei mosque in the New Baghdad neighbourhood.
Agencies