The deposed leader was ordered to leave the courtroom.

Mohammed al-Uraibiy was presiding in place of Abdullah al-Amiri, who was removed after he was accused of being too soft on the former Iraqi leader.

When the session began the defense lawyers questioned the impartiality of the trial.

"We don't expect this court established under the occupation authorities to be fair, so we decided to withdraw from this trial," defense lawyer Wadoud Fawzi told the court, reading a statement on behalf of the defense team.