New judge to preside Saddam trial tomorrow

Said al-Hammashi will replace Rizkar Mohammed Amin as head of the five-judge panel hearing the case against the former dictator and seven co-accused charged with mass killings of residents from the town of Dujail, where Saddam escaped a plot to kill him in 1982.

The accused face death by hanging if found guilty.

Amin, a Kurdish judge who chaired the first seven hearings after the trial started on October 19, resigned earlier this month after critics said he was allowing defendants' theatrics to undermine the dignity of the court.