The tribunal trying Saddam Hussein said yesterday its new chief judge would preside over the next session on Jan. 24, despite calls for him to be barred for suspected links to Saddam’s Baath party. An official of the independent Debaathification Commission told Reuters on Wednesday Sayeed Al-Hamashi was the subject of an inquiry and should be removed from his post.The allegations threw the US-sponsored court into fresh confusion after the resignation last week of chief judge Rizgar Amin, a Kurd, who quit in protest at political interference. Hamashi, Amin’s deputy, was promoted to the top job. He has denied any links to the Baath party and his fellow judges appeared to rally around him yesterday to defend his record.
Tribunal spokesman Judge Raid Jouhi said the judges in the Saddam trial had been carefully selected for their professionalism and integrity. “The judges are well known and their history is also well known and they are professionals. So far it is Judge Hamashi who is going to head the next session,” he told Reuters.