Much of the world's press has been excluded from Saddam Hussein's court appearance today following an extraordinary decision by the Iraqi judge hearing the case to allow just one western newspaper to attend.

John Burns of the New York Times will be the only journalist from the western print media to witness today's historic hearing, which is being held in top secret - with even the judge's identity remaining confidential.

Bizarrely, his copy will not be made available to other newspapers under the usual pooling arrangements.

Instead, Burns plans to hold a press conference in Baghdad immediately after the hearing where newspaper correspondents from around the world will be given the chance to ask questions.

CNN and al-Jazeera were the only two broadcasters at the hearing, with CNN's Christiane Amanpour one of only a handful of journalists allowed into the courtroom.

But plans for broadcast media seemed equally confused, with the BBC apparently unaware of the arrangements as the hearing began in Baghdad this morning. Even those who were present were unsure when they would be able to use their footage.

Not live footage of the hearing could be shown, and broadcasters will have to wait for the approval of the Iraqi authorities before they can show anything.

"It's a moveable feast - we were given a plan last night but I understand that has now changed," said one source.

"There's a lot of confusion, 'no one really knows what's going on. We've just had a call from the BBC saying even they're not sure who the pool reporter is."

A spokesman for the US embassy in Baghdad said the media arrangements had been decided by the Iraqi judge, whose identity is being kept secret for security reasons, although the US authorities had put the arrangements in place.

The hearing, where Saddam and his cohorts were expected to hear details of the criminal charges they will face, was being held at a top secret location in the Iraqi capital.


http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1251616,00.html