[JURIST] A replacement judge has been named to preside over the Iraqi High Criminal Court [formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website]] trying ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein following the weekend resignation [JURIST report] of chief judge Rizgar Amin [Wikipedia profile], according to the court's chief prosecutor speaking Monday. Amin deputy Sayeed al-Hamashi [Reuters report] will take over the next session of the Hussein trial [JURIST news archive] scheduled for January 24. Efforts by Iraqi officials, including at least one of Amin's judicial colleagues, to persuade [JURIST report] him to stay on have thusfar been inconclusive, although the government has not made a final decision on whether to accept his resignation. Amin filed his resignation in protest over Shiite leaders' objections to how he was running the trial. Reuters has more.