BAGHDAD, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pleaded not guilty at his first trial in Baghdad Wednesday on charges stemming from a 1982 massacre.
"I am not guilty," a bearded Saddam told the court where he appeared with seven followers charged with the killing of 148 people in the Sunni-Shiite town of Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.
The public prosecutor accused Saddam's regime of "killing, bloodletting, robbery, embezzlement of public funds, displacing people and waging war against Iran in which two million were killed."
Saddam initially refused to recognize the court's legitimacy, refusing to identify himself.
"I don't recognize the authority that set you up or the sentence you will issue," Saddam told the court of five judges headed by Zarkal al-Amin, a Kurd.
He said he "preserves his constitutional right" not to answer the court in his capacity as president.
The court was later adjourned to Nov. 28.
Much of the Arabic world was glued to live television coverage of the trial, which is taking place in the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad in a building that was once the headquarters for Saddam's Baathist party, CNN said.
