Saddam Defiant, Daughter Impressed

Saddam Hussein pleaded not guilty and caused a commotion at his trial:

The confrontation then became physical. When a break was called, Saddam stood, smiling, and asked to step out of the room. When two guards tried to grab his arms to escort him out, he angrily shook them off.

They tried to grab him again, and Saddam struggled to free himself. Saddam and the guards shoved each other and yelled for about a minute.

It ended with Saddam getting his way, and he was allowed to walk independently, with the two guards behind him, out of the room for the break.

Meanwhile, his daughter says her murderous father is "courageous":

Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter praised her father as "courageous" and a "hero" after the start of his trial Wednesday, during which he argued with judges and pleaded innocent to charges of murder and torture.

"It was the most wonderful thing I've seen in my life. He was the most wonderful and courageous father," Raghad Saddam Hussein said in a telephone interview with the pan-Arab satellite channel, Al-Arabiya TV.

"He is a man who never surrenders. He's a hero, and he will remain a hero," she said, speaking from the Jordanian capital, Amman. Raghad and her younger sister, Rana, have lived in Jordan since they fled the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

When reached for comment, Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay reponded "Hell sucks, see you soon Dad ".