The toughest job

Chief judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin speaks at the trial of Saddam Hussein. Photograph: Stefan Zaklin/AP

Chief judge at the trial of Saddam Hussein is one of those jobs that few would want. Outside the court you are a prime target for assassination. Inside it the defendant deploys the grandstanding and truculence of a deposed dictator. He argues, he berates, he insults the guards and refuses to hear the witnesses.

Then there is the political pressure. Despite the high mortality rate of those involved in the trial (two defence lawyers were murdered, one has fled abroad) it does not appear to be the threat of violence that has scared off Rizgar Mohammed Amin. Rather that criticism from Iraqi government officials over his treatment of Saddam, who they think gets excessive leeway in court, has made his job too difficult.