Saddam claims beaten by Americans
22/12/2005 11:54
The ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said on Wednesday in the court that he
was beaten by the Americans.
"I have been hit by the Americans and
tortured," he said in the court.
"I've been beaten on every place of my body
and the signs are all over my body," he added.
The trial of the former
president and seven of his codefendants resumed in Baghdad on Wednesday with
hearing a new witness over the Dujail massacre in 1982.
US
rejects Saddam Hussein's torture claim
The US government on Wednesday rejected toppled Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein's claim that Americans had beaten him in custody, calling the accusation
"preposterous."
In reaction to Saddam's charge on Wednesday, White House
spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters: "I think that's one of the most
preposterous things I've heard from Saddam Hussein recently."
"Saddam
Hussein is being treated the exact opposite of the way his regime treated those
he imprisoned and tortured simply for expressing their opinions, and so I reject
that," McClellan said.
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven of his
codefendants resumed in Baghdad on Wednesday with Saddam telling the court that
he was beaten by the Americans while in custody. "I have been hit by the
Americans and tortured," he said, adding "I've been beaten on every place of my
body and the signs are all over my body."
US State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack described Saddam'saccusation as "high ironic" and said that there was
no evidence to substantiate his claim.
Xinhua news
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