Saddam, who arrived at the courthouse in handcuffs and chains yesterday, was read seven charges under a preliminary arrest warrant and told his rights, pool reporters granted access to the heavily guarded court said.

"I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq," he repeated.

He refused to recognise that he was guilty of a crime in invading and occupying Kuwait in 1990, telling the judge: "I did that for the Iraqi people. How can you defend these dogs?"

The judge reprimanded Saddam for his language and reminded him he was in a court of law. He looked around with half-smile, saying: "This is all a theatre, the real criminal is Bush."

Saddam, 67 and held as a US prisoner of war since his capture in December, appeared thin and tired, reporters said.

He arrived in a US helicopter at a military base and was transferred to an armoured bus to be driven to the makeshift courtroom near Baghdad international airport.

Two burly Iraqi guards escorted him into the courthouse. He was dressed in civilian clothes, with a grey jacket and a trimmed beard. His chains were removed before he reached the courtroom. His handcuffs were taken off inside the room where he sat down facing cameras that recorded the proceedings.

TRIAL MONTHS AWAY
The arraignment was the first step towards a trial which could help Iraq come to terms with 35 years of Baathist brutality, though it may not start for many months.

Charges against Saddam and 11 of his top lieutenants are expected to include war crimes and genocide, as well as crimes against humanity, but it is not yet clear what offences each individual will be charged with.

"The judge has prepared a separate charge sheet for each one of them," Salem Chalabi, a US-trained lawyer who has led the work of the special tribunal, told Reuters.

Saddam's arraignment took place near Baghdad airport, where the US military is thought to have held the 12 men at a detention centre in solitary confinement.

Saddam had no lawyers to represent him at the arraignment.

Similar proceedings were to be held later in the day for his former aides, including former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz and Hassan Ali al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his alleged role in using poison gas against Kurds and Iranians.

The US military handed the 12 men over to Iraqi legal custody on Wednesday, but will continue to guard them following the return of sovereignty to Iraqis on Monday.

Saddam, accused of ordering the killing and torture of thousands of people, was captured by US forces in December near his hometown of Tikrit after eight months on the run following his overthrow on April 9.

The public last glimpsed him, dishevelled and with a bushy beard, in television footage shot soon after his capture.

Kuwait has called for Saddam to be sentenced to death over Baghdad's seven-month occupation of the Gulf state in 1990-91.

Many Iraqis want Saddam to be executed, though some say they would prefer him to suffer a more protracted punishment.

"There must be a way to really make him suffer," said Kati Hamadi, a mother of three who lost her husband and brother under Saddam's rule in the 1980s and 1990s.

"Having an Iraqi trial is an excellent idea. It will expose his murderous past and let Iraqis know all the things he has to answer for -- Iraqis need to hear that," she said.

Iraq's interim government is considering restoring the death penalty, suspended during the US-British occupation.

The government, led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, wants to show Iraqis the occupation is really over, despite the presence of US-led foreign troops, and to prove it can curb violence.