World News 18-12-2003 Saddam Shown Mass Grave Videos who: Saddam Hussein what: Forced to watch video tapes of his own atrocities where: Iraq when: Yesterday snippet: "Interrogators trying to get Saddam Hussein to confess to his crimes have shown him video recordings of mass graves, torture and executions in the hope that they can break his spirit," says Gethin Chamberlain in The Scotsman. "The former Iraqi leader, who is being held in the Baghdad area, has also been shown footage of anti-Saddam protests, although US officials said his initial response had been disappointing." The Sun reports that "he has so far refused to acknowledge responsibility for any of the images" and he "also denies orchestrating attacks against coalition forces or being aware of terrorist plans". But despite the continued violence in Baghdad, which yesterday claimed ten lives in one suicide attack alone, there is good news in the aftermath of the dictator`s arrest. The Telegraph says the US military has smashed "a ring of terrorist cells in Baghdad" thanks to documents they found in Saddam`s underground hideout. "Troops arrested three former Iraqi generals and have now broken up six of up to 14 cells active in the capital." Meanwhile, the head of Iraq`s Interim Governing Council, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, "says Iran should be paid reparations for the war that Saddam Hussein waged against it in the 1980s," according to a report from the BBC. A million people died in the war and Iraq used nerve gas against its neighbour, killing an estimated 20,000 Iranians. [... more]

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