Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein said yesterday that he was brought to the court against his will.

"I was brought here forcibly," Saddam told Chief Judge RaoufAbdul Rahman at the start of the session to hear his final arguments in the trial of Saddam and his seven codefendants for the alleged Dujail massacre.

Saddam was brought to the court from the hospital where he was receiving treatment due to a 17-day-long hunger strike.

Saddam's defense team boycotted the trial in protest at injustice of the process and inadequate protection of defense lawyers' safety.

However, Abdul Rahman appointed a lawyer for Saddam due to the absence of his defense team.

Saddam rejected the appointment, saying "I refuse the lawyers that have been assigned to me, they will be considered enemies by the people."

Saddam and his lawyers demanded authorities provide adequate protection to the Iraqi lawyers and their families following the killing of Khamis al-Obeidi, the third defense lawyer to have been killed since Saddam's trial began in October last year.

But Rahman rejected a petition submitted by chief of Saddam's defense team Khalil al-Dulaimi.

Saddam and his seven codefendants were charged with crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shiite men in Dujail after Saddam survived an assassination attempt in 1982.