Jordanian lawyers Mohammed Rashdan and Ziad Khassawneh told AFP that the televised court appearance in Baghdad by the former dictator was shameful.

"The court proceedings were a farce and theatrics," said Rashdan who heads the 20-member Amman-based team which was appointed by Saddam's wife and three daughters to represent him.

"What happened yesterday was shameful and much worse that the Nuremburg trials," he said of the courts which tried leading Nazi party officials after the defeat of Germany in World War II.

"The judges were appointed illegally by (Paul) Bremer," he said in reference to the former US administrator who ruled Iraq from the end of last year's war until Monday when he transferred sovereignty to an Iraqi interim government.

"They were supposed to get, at the very least, the approval of the Iraqi people," he said, reiterating that Iraq's government is illegitimate since it was not elected by the people.

Rashdan, who says the lawyers had been threatened by Iraqi officials, said the defence team had asked "several countries, including France, to grant us international protection to go to Iraq to defend President Saddam".

"We are waiting for replies," he said.

The lawyers say they cannot go to Baghdad to represent their client without clearance from the Iraqi Bar Association which has not been forthcoming. The Iraqi authorities "are afraid of the defence team and that is why they are placing obstacles along our path," he added.

For Khassawneh, the ousted Iraqi president, who ruled his country with an iron-fist for 24 years, was in full command in court on Thursday.

Saddam "is a strong and steadfast man. He enjoys a strong sense of the law and dominated the court and confused the judges," he said.

In court, the 67-year-old former dictator refused to sign legal papers after the charges were read against him, demanding the presence of his lawyers.

Saddam dismissed the court as "a theatre", denounced US President George W. Bush as the "real villain", defended his invasion of Kuwait and called Kuwaitis "dogs".

ROCKETS HAMMER HOTELS
Rockets hit two central Baghdad hotels yesterday, shattering the Muslim holiday calm a day after Saddam appeared before the Iraqi tribunal.

The explosions woke residents of the capital who had been riveted by the drama of a deflated but still defiant Saddam brought in chains to the Iraqi judge.

Two Turkish hostages were freed by guerrillas, apparently after promising to stop working for the U.S. occupying forces.

Insurgents used a bus and a pickup truck as makeshift launchpads to fire rockets that hit the two hotels used by foreigners and Iraqi officials, witnesses said.

Guards outside the Baghdad Hotel said three people had been wounded. No one was hurt at the Ishtar Sheraton Hotel by a rocket that struck the 10th floor.

Nearby, police found a pickup truck flipped on its side with 17 rocket launchers and a crude firing mechanism inside. Police said they believed three rockets had been fired.

A similar mechanism was found on the bus, which burst into flames near the Sheraton in Firdaws Square, where American troops and Iraqis hauled down Saddam's statue on April 9, 2003.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have been on alert for any spectacular attacks to disrupt the handover to an interim government, which occurred on Monday, two days earlier than planned.

Two US Marines died in Iraq, the US military said yesterday, reporting that one was killed in action and the other died from wounds received the previous day near the restive city of Fallujah.

Jordan is ready to become the first Arab country to send peacekeepers to Iraq, if the new government requests it, King Abdullah told the BBC on Thursday. Iraqi leaders have previously said they do not want troops from any of Iraq's neighbours.

(AFP and Reuters)