FILE: Judgement day looms for Saddam Hussein

Three years after American soldiers found him hiding in a hole, Saddam Hussein may be condemned to hang on Sunday (November 5) if an Iraqi court finds him guilty of crimes against humanity. The final act of Saddam's year-old first trial, the verdict is the high point of a historic, U.S.-sponsored experiment in international justice intended to unite Iraqis in exorcising three decades of rule by the former president, accused of mass killing and torture to keep power over Iraq's disparate peoples. Yet the country's descent toward civil war since Saddam was overthrown has blighted proceedings. Three defence lawyers were killed, the judge quit over political interference and Iraqis, who a year ago gasped in wonder to see the former strongman in court, have lapsed into distracted indifference to his fate. Saddam, 69, and seven co-accused have been charged with crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite villagers after an attempt on his life in the town of Dujail in 1982. If convicted, Saddam faces death by hanging, a prospect Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, with some disregard for judicial independence, has said cannot come soon enough. Al-Maliki's comments prompted criticism by some international legal rights groups, who have said government pressure and sectarian violence in Iraq make a fair trial of Saddam impossible. But if he does get a death sentence -- something Saddam with typical bombast demanded should be "by firing squad and not by hanging like any ordinary criminal," -- it may be many months, even years, away. He is due back in court on Tuesday (November 7) in another trial, for genocide against ethnic Kurds. Saddam's chief lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said the timing of the verdict was timed to boost President George W. Bush before U.S. mid-term elections on Nov. 7 and warned of catastrophic consequences if the verdict was not postponed. "The Americans will pay a price they can not imagine (if the verdict is capital punishment), all parties involved in Iraq will see a catastrophe the region has never witnessed before. I am scared that the people who pushed America in occupying Iraq will push the idiot Bush for a political verdict, but he will pay a high price for it," Dulaimi told Reuters. Richard Dicker, from Human Rights Watch, last year stressed the importance of brining Saddam to trial but cited concerns about the fairness of the proceedings. "Horrific crimes happened here in Iraq over the period of Ba'ath party rule and the most responsible leaders, the most senior leaders need to be brought to trail so that justice can be done. But for justice to be done the trials have to be fair," Dicker told Reuters last year. Proceedings in the heavily fortified Baghdad courtroom have taken place against a backdrop of sectarian violence. Defence counsel, dominated by Saddam's fellow Sunnis, blamed Shi'ite gunmen for their colleagues' deaths. The first chief judge, a Kurd, resigned to protest government meddling. Many in the Shi'ite town of Dujail are afraid to speak to reporters about the trial and concede that they are concerned Sunni insurgents might launch attacks timed with the verdict. Far from being a catharsis for Iraqis scarred by Saddam's rule, many feel the trial has deepened animosities between communities 3-1/2 years after the U.S.-led invasion. Some legal experts say it should have been held in a third country. Security in the Green Zone, the courtroom's venue, has been tightened ahead of the verdict, which officials say should be announced on Sunday. The Defence Ministry said the army had cancelled all leave and put troops on alert. Saddam has been defiant during televised sessions, still calling himself the president of Iraq. During one session, he yelled at the chief judge, "your excellency, you are in front of Saddam Hussein, President of the Republic of Iraq... I am the President of the Republic of Iraq at the request of the Iraqi people and I remain so until this very moment." He has also staged hunger strikes and said the verdict has been rigged. As Bush faces mounting criticism over the war, a guilty verdict two days ahead of tight U.S. congressional polls could be a vindication of his policy to overthrow Saddam. U.S. officials say Washington has no say over the court's decisions. However, throughout the case, Iraqi court officials have been consulting closely with -- and, sources close to the court say, firmly guided by -- American lawyers from a U.S. Embassy office. oy/kdp

ITN Source | November 4, 2006

Tags:. .yelled. .rigged. .cited. .hunger. .embassy