Ramsey Clark, 77, who has pursued a career as a human rights lawyer since serving under President Lyndon Johnson from 1967-69, met Saddam last week.

They discussed stalling the proceedings by inviting a new international lawyer to take part or by challenging the legitimacy of prosecution witnesses, many of whom have insisted on anonymity and will be screened off from the court.

Khalil al-Duleimi, Saddam’s top lawyer, said the meeting took place on Monday after Clark insisted that defence lawyers had the right to private time with their client.

“We were taken into the room where Saddam was sitting on a wooden chair alone, being guarded by US soldiers,” al-Duleimi said. “Ramsey entered first and when he reached the middle of the room Saddam stood up and they were suddenly shaking hands vigorously and greeting each other.”

Al-Duleimi and two other defence lawyers followed.

The soldiers guarding Saddam watched briefly and then withdrew.

Al-Duleimi said that the former Iraqi leader was in high spirits and impressed his lawyers with his knowledge.

“Saddam asked Clark to pass on his greetings to the American people, telling the former attorney-general, ‘We must distinguish between the people and the leadership. The majority of the people now know the truth about their leadership and how it lied to them’.”

This was taken as a reference to pre-war claims — which later proved unfounded — that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Clark was one of several foreign lawyers who Saddam had hoped would take on his case. He visited Saddam in February 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, and was also involved in the defence of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president who is now on trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague.

Al-Duleimi said that even though the defence considered the court illegitimate under international and Iraqi laws, they were determined to follow through the process.

“Our aim is to prove to the world that those who are conducting the trial do not have the ability or the jurisdiction to do so,” al-Duleimi said.

In the first of a series of cases, Saddam is accused of killing more than 140 Shi’ite Muslims after a failed assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail in 1982. He faces death if convicted.

Al-Duleimi said the defence has been encouraged by evidence given by the prosecution’s main witness, Wadah al-Sheikh, a former Iraqi intelligence officer, who recorded his testimony four days before he died of cancer.

The defence claims that al-Sheikh’s testimony does not link Saddam directly to any crime committed in Dujail. The team also intends to question the admissibility of his testimony on grounds that they did not have a chance to question him before his death.

The trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants will resume tomorrow after a break to allow the defence to replace two murdered lawyers.

A family friend revealed that Saddam had sent word to Raghad, his eldest daughter, telling her not to attend the trial. He has said that he does not want to put his family through such an ordeal.

Explore World News

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• 8,000 miles from Washington - Obama's grandmother
• Review: Oliver Stone's W.
• Zimbabwe chaos wipes out education