The decision by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will fuel criticism by some international rights groups, who say government pressure and sectarian violence in Iraq make a fair trial against Saddam impossible.
"We have asked the court to replace the judge because he has
lost his neutrality after he made comments saying Saddam is not a
dictator," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
"The court told us he has already been replaced. This was a
decision by the cabinet of the prime minister," he said.
The court is trying Saddam, his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali", and five others for war crimes and crimes
against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign against
ethnic Kurds.
Saddam and Majeed also face the graver charge of genocide. All could be hanged if convicted.
The court was set up by US forces. Its first two cases have centred on crimes against Shi'ite Muslims and ethnic Kurds, oppressed under Saddam's Sunni Muslim-dominated administration.
However the Iraqi government appears to be acting independently of US officials, who say they were not warned of the judge's sacking.
A judge in an earlier Saddam trial on charges of killing 148
Shi'ites in the 1980s stepped down this year, citing political
pressure from the government.
Saddam ‘no dictator’
Last week, prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon demanded Amiri resign
for being too soft, saying the judge had let Saddam make political
speeches and threaten witnesses. Saddam has threatened to "crush the heads" of his accusers.
In a stunning exchange with Saddam last Thursday, Amiri said he
did not think the ousted leader was a "dictator".
"If I'm a dictator, why did you come to see me?" Saddam told a
Kurdish witness who had testified that he secured a presidential
audience in 1988 to plead for his family's life.
Amiri then addressed Saddam saying: "You are not a dictator. It
is the people who surround a man who make him a dictator".
At a hearing yesterday, Saddam's cousin, Majeed, rose to object
when another witness referred to Saddam as a dictator, saying the
judge had already ruled he wasn't.
Amiri, who has made no other public comments on the remarks,
interrupted Majeed and said: "This has been misinterpreted."