The televised War on Terror continues

The War on Terror continues...stay tuned
The War on Terror saw further developments over the weekend too as the Saddam Hussein trial recommenced. But not all is well in the continued farce of what is supposed to be the trial of a ‘butcher’ and ‘tyrannical dictator’. The latest in a series of judges sat down to preside over the court Sunday only to be berated by Saddam with a tirade of criticism and abuse. As Raouf Abdel-Rahman took his seat arguments immediately broke out between lawyers, defendents and the judge. Saddam’s half brother, and former intelligence chief, was ejected from the court after asserting the court was “the daughter of the whore”. As he was removed, Saddam stood up and in solidarity shouted “down with traiters, down with America”. The circus continued into pantomime as judge Abdel-Rahman then ejected defence lawyer Salih al-Armouti accusing him of inciting his clients. Saddam and his co-accused then rose and along with their entire legal team, they all left the court in protest. Ruling that none of the defence lawyers may return the court convened later in the day with new lawyers, appointed by the judge, and only four of the eight accused. Eventually the court heard from a witness of the incident which took place in Dujail in 1982 where 140 people were killed and others were imprisoned. Her testimony claimed that she was arrested and detained by two of the accused and tortured.
Elsewhere in Iraq an ABC cameraman and reporter seriously injured in an explosion. Bob Woodruff, 44, an anchorman who replaced the late Peter Jennings, and his cameraman were attacked whilst reporting in Iraq. Both were taken to Landstuhl in Germany. Both were believed to be wearing helmets and body armour during the incident which occurred near Taji. 77 journalists have died so far in Iraq – 63 were killed in the entire Vietnam War. [ABC]. In another incident on Monday a British soldier was killed by small arms fire. The soldier from the 7th Armoured Brigade, serving with the 1st Battalion The Highlanders, was killed on patrol in Maysan province, southern Iraq. His death brings the UK death toll to 99. Two hundred and thirty have been injured in the 34 months of conflict. [BBC].

Kidnappings of westerners is hitting a new high as is the release of video recordings from al-Qaeda. On Saturday a new video surfaced showing four westerners kidnapped in Iraq bringing with it the first hope that they might yet be released. It is the first apparent contact with the hostage takers since early December. But the likelihood of a swift release remains slim after the insurgents demand a release of all prisoners in American hands be released – this is unlikely to be complied with. Ayman al-Zawahiri has surfaced on a new tape this week. On Monday al-Jazeera aired the latest in a series of video and audio tapes in which he called George W. Bush a ‘butcher’ and went on to invite him to become a ‘muslim brother’ and to absolve his sins. The latest video to appear is that from ‘The Revenge Brigade’ or ‘Brigade of Vengeance’. It shows kidnapped journalist Jill Carroll. She is seen weeping, but there was no sound.