By ASSOCIATED PRESS
A woman whose identity will be kept secret and voice masked took the stand in the trial of Saddam Hussein on Tuesday, but the session had to be adjourned due to technical problems disguising her voice.
The witness began speaking as the fourth session of the trial got underway in the heavily guarded Green Zone, but defense lawyers complained they could not hear her scrambled voice. Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin adjourned the session so technicians could try to fix the equipment.
Amin had explained to the court that defense attorneys would be told the identity of the witness but they must not pass the information to anyone outside the tribunal. He said she would be referred to publicly as "Witness A."
The Tuesday hearing began after a dramatic, often chaotic day when for the first time, Shi'ite victims of a 1982 crackdown confronted the former leader and his lieutenants. They are on trial for the killing of more than 140 Shi'ites in the town of Dujail north of Baghdad and could be executed by hanging if convicted.