From theage
One of Saddam Hussein's lawyers called his trial in Baghdad "pure theatre" and said a 40-day adjournment to prepare a defence was not enough."If this was a regular murder trial at the Old Bailey in London then the defence would have been granted six months to prepare," Abdel al Haq al-Ani, the lawyer coordinating the defence effort, told Reuters.
"The Americans are intent on making this pure theatre, a show trial," he said.
Saddam and seven former senior officials went on trial on Wednesday for the death of more than 140 men from the mostly Shi'ite town of Dujail following a failed attempt on the former Iraqi leader's life in 1982.
The trial was adjourned until November 28, although Saddam's chief lawyer Khalil al-Duleimi had asked for a three-month delay.
Ani said the defence was only last month handed hundreds of pages of evidence which the prosecution says links Saddam to the charges.
In the session, Saddam answered questions from the judge and pleaded not guilty, although the defence says the tribunal is illegitimate, partly because it was set up by US administrator Paul Bremer in December 2003 during formal occupation of Iraq.
