Rizgar Mohammed Amin, the presiding judge of a five-judge tribunal overseeing the Saddam case, was dismayed by the way he had been attacked in the media by critics who said he let the proceedings spin out of control, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The statement came after news reports emerged on Friday that Amin would resign.

The chief prosecutor in the Saddam trial, Jaafar Al Mousawi, said Amin's resignation - if accepted - wouldn't affect the proceedings because he could be quickly replaced.

A US marine, meanwhile, died of his wounds, "received from small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against the enemy in Ramadi", 100km west of Baghdad on Friday, the US military said.

A kidnapped British journalist, however, had a narrow escape when he was freed by chance after US soldiers raided the farmhouse where he was being held, Britain's Foreign Office said Saturday.

Phil Sands, a 28-year-old reporter for Dubai-based Emirates Today, "was kidnapped on December 26, but was not reported missing and was found during an unrelated coalition military operation", said a Foreign Office spokesman.

A female American journalist kidnapped off a Baghdad street one week ago, however, was yet to be found. Jill Caroll, a 28-year-old freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, has not been heard from since she was kidnapped last Saturday.

Badee Izzat Aref, the lawyer of former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, appealed yesterday for US President George W Bush to release his client for medical reasons.

The appeal came a day after Aziz's family made a similar appeal with the Vatican, claiming his health had deteriorated drastically.

Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin( back to camera ), speaks to the defendents as the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others began in a heavily fortified courthouse in Baghdad's Green Zone Wednesday Oct. 19, 2005.

Saddam Hussein Trial Blog
-Wed Oct. 19, '05 to Date

As arguably the most important war crimes proceeding since Nuremberg, the trial of Saddam Hussein is likely to constitute a "Grotian Moment" -- defined as a legal development that is so significant that it can create new customary international law or radically transform the interpretation of treaty-based law. This Website features key documents related to the Iraqi Special Tribunal, answers to frequently asked questions, and expert debate and public commentary on the major issues and developments related to the trials of Saddam Hussein and other former Iraqi leaders.......    More