The deposed President of Iraq Saddam Hussein pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity at the start of his trial in Baghdad this morning.
Asked by the presiding judge as his trial at a special court in Baghdad began, Saddam said: "Not guilty."
His seven co-defendants also said they were not guilty when asked by Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin how they would plead.
Saddam and his co-accused are facing charges that they ordered the killing of nearly 150 people in the mainly Shia village of Dujail north of Baghdad after a failed attempt on the former dictator's life in 1982.
If convicted, the men face the death penalty - by hanging. The trial was later adjourned until November 28th.
The 68-year-old former Iraqi leader - looking thin in a dark grey suit and open collared white shirt - initially stood and asked the presiding judge: "Who are you? I want to know who you are."
Saddam Hussein questioned the court's jurisdiction
"I preserve my constitutional rights as the president of Iraq," Saddam said. "I do not recognise the body that has authorised you and I don't recognise this aggression ... I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect."
The presiding judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, a Kurd, tried to get Saddam to formally identify himself, but Saddam refused.
The panel of five judges will both hear the case and render a verdict in what could be the first of several trials of Saddam for atrocities carried out during his 23-year-rule.
The defendants were seated in two rows of black chairs, partitioned behind a low white metal barrier, in the center of the court directly in front of the judges' bench.
At the start of the session, Amin called Saddam and his seven co-defendants into the room one by one. Saddam was the last to enter, escorted by two Iraqi guards in bulletproof vests who guided him by the elbow. He glanced at journalists watching through bulletproof glass from an adjoining room. He motioned for his escorts to slow down a little.
Saddam in the dock this morning
After sitting, he greeted his co-defendants, saying "Peace be upon you," sitting next to co-defendant Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court.
The other defendants include Saddam's former intelligence chief, his former vice president and other lower-level Baathist civil servants. Most were wearing traditional Arab robes and they complained that they were not allowed to have head-dresses, so court officials brought out head-dresses for them.
The former president, captured in December 2003, could face the death penalty if found guilty in what is planned to be the first of a series of around a dozen cases - but international observers have already raised doubts about the legitimacy of the court.
The 68-year-old was last night said to be "optimistic and confident of his innocence" as he prepared for the Iraqi Special Tribunal hearing in the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone. Just before the trial got under way this morning a number of mortars were reported to have landed in the Green Zone.
His legal team is expected to argue that his rights have been violated and claim his first trial - on accusations that he ordered the 1982 killing of 143 people in the village of Dujail following a failed assassination plot - is unfair.
Saddam Hussein's lawyer is preparing to ask for a three-month adjournment at the former Iraqi President's trial which is due to start today, and will challenge the court's competence to hear the case.
Mr Khalil al-Duleimi's comments appeared to suggest that his defense strategy will focus not on the details of the massacre but rather on the broader question of the legitimacy and competence of a court set up under US occupation in 2003.
There has also been international concern that the Dujail case forms the first series of allegations, rather than charges relating to the poisoning of 5,000 Kurds in a 1988 gas attack on the village of Halabja.
Although Saddam could appeal against the verdict in the first case, the tribunal's regulations mean any sentence must be carried out within 30 days.
Mr al-Duleimi said: "We will dispute the legitimacy of the court as we've been doing every day. We will claim it is unconstitutional and not competent to try the legitimate president of Iraq."
The identities of judges have been a tightly held secret to ensure their safety, though Amin's name was revealed today just before the trial began.
Saddam and the others are facing charges that they ordered the killing in 1982 of nearly 150 people in the mainly Shia village of Dujail north of Baghdad after a failed attempt on the former dictator's life. If convicted, the men face the death penalty - by hanging. In today's session, the charges were to be read out for the first time, and defence is expected to ask for a three-month adjournment.
The trial is taking place in the marble building that once served as the National Command Headquarters of his Baath Party. The building in Baghdad's Green Zone - the heavily fortified district where Iraq's government, parliament and the US Embassy are located - was ringed with 10-foot blast walls and US and Iraqi troops, with several Humvees and at least one tank deployed outside.
The court is expected to grant one, though for how long is not known. The trial was aired with around a 30-minute delay on state-run Iraqi television and on satellite stations across Iraq and the Arab world. After about 40 minutes, the television feed cut out.