[JURIST] The chief judge presiding over Saddam Hussein's genocide trial [JURIST news archive; BBC timeline] agreed Tuesday to allow two lawyers representing one of Hussein's co-defendants to return to court. The lawyers had been participating in a boycott of the trial [JURIST report], but Sultan Hashim Al-Tai, Hussein's defense minister, requested that Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa give the lawyers leave to return to court. Khalifa agreed, but when bailiffs summoned the lawyers, they failed to appear. Khalid al-Dulaimi [JURIST news archive], Hussein's lead defense lawyer, denied Tuesday that his colleagues would return to court and instead said that the boycott will continue.

Last week, al-Dulaimi stated that defense lawyers will continue their boycott [JURIST report], which began in September shortly after Chief Judge Abdullah al-Amiri was replaced [JURIST report] by Khalifa to preside over the genocide trial. Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.