LEAD: Saddam's trial resumes without him

CAIRO, Dec. 7 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING)

The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed Wednesday after a delay without the former president present in the courtroom in central Baghdad, reports said.

The seven other defendants and Saddam's lawyers were present when Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin convened the session at 3 p.m., about four hours late, according to the Associated Press.

After telling the court to ''go to hell'' the night before, the former president boycotted what would have been the fifth session of his trial and spent most of the day in talks with lawyers and a battle of wills with the Kurdish presiding judge, Reuters news service reported.

At the end of Tuesday's session, Saddam said he would boycott the next day's proceedings after complaining he and his co-defendants had been mistreated.

The 68-year-old's no-show is the most dramatic twist so far in a trial that has been plagued by delays, faulty equipment and rambling testimony since it opened Oct. 19, according to the Reuters report.

Saddam and the others are charged in the deaths of more than 140 Shiite Muslims in retaliation for an assassination attempt against him in the town of Dujail in 1982. Saddam accused Iran of ordering the attempt on his life.

The trial was adjourned for two weeks on Wednesday after a chaotic day marked by Saddam's refusal to attend the hearing, the Reuters report said, adding the presiding judge said the court would next sit on Dec. 21.

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