They deny all the charges.

Scuffles

Amid threats of a continued boycott, the chief prosecutor had asked the judge to bring Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants to the Baghdad court by force if necessary.

On entering court, Saddam Hussein complained he was being forced to attend.

The former leader looked haggard, wearing a blue traditional Arab robe and a black jacket in contrast to the suit he had worn previously.

"Down with the traitor, down with traitors, down with Bush. Long live the ummah (Islamic nation)... long live the ummah... long live the ummah," Saddam Hussein shouted.

His half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti scuffled with guards as he was brought in.

Both then continued to harangue the judge throughout the early proceedings, refusing orders to sit down and be quiet.

"This is not a court, this is not a court, this is a game," Saddam Hussein shouted.

Failed to show

The former head of Saddam Hussein's office, Ahmed Khudayir, and former chief of foreign intelligence, Hassan al-Obeidi, are due to give evidence on Monday.

Mr Khudayir headed Saddam Hussein's presidential office from 1995 to the fall of the regime and was known to have attended a military planning session on 9 April 2003, two days before the Americans entered Baghdad.

The new chief judge took over last month after the resignation of chief judge Rizgar Amin and has adopted a more hardline approach to the defendants.

Defence lawyers had stormed out of court and Saddam Hussein and some of his co-defendants failed to show up at the last few sessions.

The BBC's Jon Brain in Baghdad says the prosecution was aware that the spectacle of an empty dock risked further undermining a trial that had repeatedly descended into farce.

But he says if the defendants were brought in by force, defence lawyers would argue it proved their claim that the judge was biased towards the prosecution.