BAGHDAD, (AFP) -After being captured cowering in a hole and held for months at the hands of arch-enemy the United States, Saddam Hussein was not going to let signs of surrender slip at the first day of his trial.

“I am the president of Iraq. I am still of the opinion that this court is illegitimate. This court is false and whatever is built on a false premise is false,” the former dictator declared yesterday.

“Who are you and what are you?” he demanded of the court as he went on trial for a 1982 massacre of more than 140 Shiite villagers.

Dressed in a grey suit and open-necked white shirt that contrasted with the tribal dress of his fellow defendants, the unhandcuffed Saddam strove to present a self-confident air to the millions watching around the world.

Without appearing to raise his voice, he engaged in a prolonged exchange with chief judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin, delivering the tirades the authorities had feared against the legitmacy of the court and the trial.

Facing charges of crimes against humanity over the Dujail killings, Saddam cocked a snook at the court by refusing to give even his name to Amin.

Saddam – still instantly recognisable but his beard now flecked with grey – had no qualms about engaging in a protracted and increasingly heated discussion with the Kurdish judge.

The silver-haired Amin, wearing a striped tie and black gown countered: “I want for the moment that you give your identity, your name, your first name and then we will listen to you. You will have your day, we will give you a chance to speak.

“We do not have the time to hear your opinions. Just relax and say who you are,” he said.

Saddam retorted: “I say I don’t answer this so-called court, with all due respect. And I reserve my constitutional right as the president of the country of Iraq, I will not go along.

“I don’t acknowledge either the entity that authorises you nor the aggression, because everything based on falsehood is falsehood,” Saddam said.

The former Iraqi leader also said he was appalled at being unable to bring writing materials into the palatial former Baath party headquarters that holds the court.

“This is a formality of the court,” reaffirmed an increasingly exasperated Amin. “You can sit down so that we can begin.”

Saddam also refused to hand over his identity card for examination. “Mr Saddam, we need the ID card, these are formalities,” insisted the judge.

At one point, the prosecutor began to cite a long litany of other crimes Saddam is alleged to have committed, including persecution of Iraqi Kurds, the war against Iran and the invasion of Kuwait.

One defence lawyer, Adel al-Zubaidi, broke in to say: “The court is hearing the Dujail case, but the prosecutor has exceeded his role and has become an adversary.”

Despite a protest, Amin ruled for the defence, telling the prosecutor: “That is right, you must speak about Dujail, not other cases.”

The prosecutor then said that although the formal charge against Saddam concerned the murder of 143 people, in fact, 148 were killed, including four he said had been killed “in error” because they were not even residents of the village.

He referred to a video shot on July 8, 1982 that showed Saddam questioning four suspects after the attack, which had been broadcast on Iraqi television and which the prosecutor said he had on a compact disc.

“Where is the CD?” Saddam immediately demanded. “I want to see the CD!”

But in an example of the technical gremlins that plagued the first day of proceedings, the prosecutor replied that a problem with the CD player prevented him from playing the disc.

Another problem encountered by the Iraqi Special Tribunal involved problems with the sound system, which enforced a 10-minute stoppage early on.

According to a report in the New York Times, the United States spent $138 million to build a “state-of-the-art courthouse” for the trial.