That Old Gray Lady

It's amazing. Simply amazing. I wonder if Judith Miller's old flame got them tickets. It seems from this Guardian article that the NYT, despite some very public apologies for being an official mouthpiece for the invasion, is still held in high enough regard by the powers-that-be to warrant such esclusive access:

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.