Hussein's Half-Brother Thrown Out Of Court

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, half brother of Saddam Hussein (CTK) June 12, 2006 -- Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the half-brother of Iraq's deposed leader Saddam Hussein, was today thrown out of the courtroom in which Hussein and seven co-defendants are being tried.

Al-Tikriti was removed following an angry exchange with the chief judge, the latest in a series of interruptions and outbursts to have affected the hearings.

Earlier in the day, a U.S. lawyer for the defense, Curtis Doebbler, argued that a fair trial is impossible under the current circumstances, an argument consistently put forward by the defense.

The eight defendants are accused of crimes against humanity committed in reprisal for a failed assassination attempt on Hussein in 1982 in the town of Al-Dujayl.

(Reuters, AP, AFP)