BAGHDAD - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein went on trial on Wednesday on charges of crimes against humanity over a 1982 murder of more than 140 Shiite villagers.

Following are some notable quotes about the case involving Saddam and seven of his former henchmen, which marks the first time an Arab leader has gone on trial for crimes against his own people:

-- "I am the president of Iraq. I am still of the opinion that this court is illegitimate. This court is false and whatever is built on a false premise is false," Saddam told court.

"I said what I said, I am not guilty, I am innocent," said the former dictator.

"Who are you and what are you?" -- Saddam again. "I don't acknowledge either the entity that authorises you nor the aggression because everything based on falsehood is falsehood," he said.

"I say I don't answer this so-called court, with all due respect. And I reserve my constitutional right as the president of the country of Iraq."

-- "Saddam is a hero and he will remain a hero" -- his eldest daughter, Raghad.

"I have never seen a more beautiful, courageous and fantastic father than this. What is better than the sight of a lion resisting occupation, saying no and sacrificing his family and position for his principles and his country."

-- "We hope this trial will help bring some closure for the Iraqi people to their country's dark past. This is a time to remember the victims of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime" -- President George W. Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan.

"Saddam Hussein is facing Iraqi justice. The Iraqi people will hold him accountable for the brutality of his regime and his crimes against humanity."

-- "Today marks another momentous step in the building of a new Iraq," US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad

-- "The reason why the country is in such a mess is because one man stole the will of 27 million people for 35 years, and pushed them into wars and misery," -- Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba.

-- "They are charged with murder, forced expulsion, imprisonment, failure to comply with international law and torture," chief judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin.

-- "I think the death penalty is not enough for Saddam. People like Saddam do not deserve to live because of the huge devastation they caused to mankind" -- Kuwaiti Khaled al-Hajeri, who was just 13 when Saddam's troops invaded on August 2, 1990.

-- "Trial of the Century" a headline in Al-Bayan, the mouthpiece of the Shiite Dawa party of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari. "Iraqis will finally see their former dictator at the mercy of Iraqi justice."

-- "If Saddam is executed, then all Arab dictators should be. He was actually the least bad" -- teacher Raed Ihsan in the smart Baghdad neighbourhood of Karrada

-- "We call on the government to demand the extradition of his fugitive daughters from Jordan and try and execute them too, just like he did to our kids" -- Hussein Zeidan, resident of the town of Dujail at centre of Saddam trial

-- "Given the profile of the accused and the political circumstances, the Iraqi trials will be scrutinized for years to come" -- Human Rights Watch

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