Judge finds no evidence that Saddam was beaten

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The trial of Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants adjourned Thursday until Jan. 24, completing a day of testimony in which an investigating judge said officials never saw evidence verifying Saddam's claims he was beaten while in U.S. custody.

American officials denied Saddam's allegations as "completely unfounded." Saddam, in turn, denounced those denials as "lies" and said "the marks are still there."

Six witnesses, including five who were not identified, testified during the two-day session that started Wednesday. Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for the deaths of more than 140 Shiites after a 1982 attempt on Saddam's life in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

In a theatrical exchange becoming increasingly common at the trial, an assistant prosecutor asked to resign and the defense team threatened to walk out. Saddam also mocked President Bush's claims that Iraq had chemical weapons.

When the court gave the former leader an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, Saddam instead used the time to expand on earlier assertions he had been abused in custody. He claimed that the wounds he suffered from the alleged beatings had been documented by at least two American teams.

On Wednesday, Saddam told the court he'd been beaten "everywhere" on his body, insisting "the marks are still there." He did not display any marks and did not elaborate on the alleged beatings except to say some wounds took eight months to heal.

On Thursday, Saddam said American denials that he was beaten could not be believed, noting that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq despite Bush's prewar claims that Saddam was harboring such weapons.

"The White House lied when it said Iraq had chemical weapons," Saddam said. "I reported all the wounds I got to three medical committees. . . . We are not lying, the White House is lying."

But Investigative Judge Raid al-Juhi, who prepared the case against Saddam and forwarded it to the trial court in July, told reporters that neither the defendants nor their lawyers had ever complained about beatings. Officials never saw signs of beatings, he said.

"The defendants receive complete and very good health care by the authorities in charge of the detention. No ordinary Iraqi receives this kind of care," he said.

He did not say whether Saddam and his co-defendants were examined specifically for signs of abuse.