The court session began with Awad al-Bandar, head of Saddam's Revolutionary Court and one of Saddam's seven co-defendants, being cross-examined.

Al-Bandar, the only defendant that appeared in court on Thursday, looked nervous in his second time of cross-examination. He had testified last month.

Wearing a traditional headdress, al-Bandar took the stand, being accused of issuing death sentences against 148 Shiite men in the northern village of Dujail, many of them relatives of those accused in an assassination attempt on Saddam's life in 1982.

He insisted that the death sentences were issued in accordance with trials of the Shiite villagers by a fair and legitimate court, adding that he was acting within the framework of law.

Saddam, who was cross-examined on Wednesday, was absent from Thursday's court session.

Saddam and his seven aides are facing charges against humanity including the killing of 148 Shiites in Dujail.

If convicted, Saddam and his aides will face death penalty. On Tuesday, prosecutors announced that they would charge Saddam with genocide against the Kurds in the late 1980s.

Saddam is expected to take the stand over the fresh genocide charges in a separate court as early as next month.