Sadam

The court is ready to appoint a new team if defense lawyers fail to appear, added Raid Juhi, one of the judges on the special tribunal trying the former dictator and others.

Saddam's team said in a statement earlier in the day that about 1,100 Iraqi lawyers had withdrawn from the defense, arguing that inadequate protection was evident after the killings of two attorneys who were defending co-defendants of the ousted leader.

The statement did not say if those lawyers included Saddam's chief Iraqi attorney, Khalil al-Dulaimi, but it said other team members continued their duties "under complex and dangerous circumstances." Al-Dulaimi suggested last week that defense lawyers would not show up for the next session Nov. 28.

The attorneys who withdrew were among some 1,500 enlisted to help Saddam's defense, mostly researching legal precedents, preparing briefs and performing other tasks outside the courtroom, said Jordanian lawyer Ziad al-Khasawneh, who was once part of the defense team.

Juhi said the defense threat "will not affect the work of the court." He said the Iraqi High Tribunal is ready to appoint new defense lawyers if none appear.

"We have many legal experts and lawyers, and (the court) will choose from among them" to defend Saddam and the others, he said.

That could result in further delays, Juhi conceded, saying replacement lawyers could ask the court to postpone the trial to give them time to prepare their case.

Still, the defense moves could leave the proceedings in disarray, embarrassing both the Iraqi government and the United States, which have insisted that Saddam face justice in his homeland before his own people.

If the court appoints new attorneys, Saddam will refuse to accept them and the trial will degenerate into "a total farce,"