"It is important for the Iraqis to know that Iraqis are handling the case and that the judicial system is taking up its role," he told the newspaper through a translator in Baghdad.

The dangers of working on the tribunal were highlighted March 1 when one of its judges, Barwez Mohammed Mahmoud Merwani, 59, and his son, Aryan Barwez Mohammed Merwani, 26, were ambushed and killed in Baghdad as they got into their cars to go to work.

Juhi said he had worked as a judge under Saddam, and never expected to have the former dictator stand in front of him.Last summer, Saddam made his first appearance before a three-judge panel on crimes against humanity charges, and ranted for 26 minutes about the court's illegality and refused to sign an acknowledgment that he had been read his rights.