BAGHDAD, Feb. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Trial of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his seven aides was adjourned to Thursday, court officials said on Wednesday.

    The fresh adjournment came after a brief Wednesday session marred by the absence of Saddam, his defense team and four co-defendants, who decided to boycott the court in a protest against the newly-appointed chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman.

    Rahman, however, continued the session and a woman witness testified behind a curtain in the court against Saddam and his aides.

    Rahman, a Kurd, was appointed the new chief judge and made his court debut on Sunday following the resignation of his predecessor Rizkar Mohammed Amin, also a Kurd, who complained of political pressure.

    Rahman came from the Kurdish town of Halabja, where 5,000 people, including some of his relatives, were killed in a poisonous gas attack under Saddam's reign in 1988. 

    Saddam and his defense team declared that their boycott of court sessions was a protest against Rahman's "unfair" handling of the trial proceedings, demanding his resignation. 

    Saddam and his seven aides are charged with crimes against humanity, including the killing of over 140 Shiite men in a northern Iraqi village after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam in 1982.

    If convicted, Saddam and his aides might face the death penalty. Enditem