Wednesday, October 19 2005 09:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: Nearly two years after his capture, Saddam Hussein will face trial today (Oct 19, 2005) for alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis. In some ways, Iraq also will be on trial, with the world watching to see whether its new ruling class can rise above politics and prejudice and give the former dictator a fair hearing.

Saddam's lawyer said yesterday (Oct 18, 2005) he would ask for a three-month adjournment at his client's trial for a 1982 massacre, and challenge the court's competence to hear the case.

Khalil al-Dulaimi's comments appeared to suggest that his defence strategy will focus not on the details of the massacre but rather on the broader question of the legitimacy and competence of a court set up under U.S. occupation in 2003. Iraq formally became a sovereign nation again in June 2004, but the United States continues to wield vast influence.

Saddam and seven senior members of his regime are facing charges that they ordered the killing in 1982 of nearly 150 people in the mainly Shiite village of Dujail north of Baghdad after a failed attempt on the former dictator's life.

The ousted Iraqi leader and his co-defendants were expected to hear the charges against them in today's session. The session was to be held under tight security in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to Iraq's Government, parliament and the U.S. and British Embassies.

If convicted, the men face the death penalty by hanging.

Prosecutors are preparing other cases to bring to trial against Saddam and his officials, including for the Anfal Operation, a military crackdown on the Kurds in the late 1980s that killed some 180,000 people; the suppression of Kurdish and Shiite revolts in 1991, and the deaths of 5,000 Kurds in a 1988 poison gas attack on the village of Halabja.

If a death sentence is issued in the Dujail case, it is unclear whether it would be carried out regardless of whether Saddam is involved in other trials. He can appeal a Dujail verdict, but if a conviction and sentence are upheld, the sentence must be carried out within 30 days.

A stay could be granted to allow other trials to proceed.

However, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite who actively opposed Saddam's rule during years in exile, showed his eagerness to see any sentence carried out.

"We are not trying to land on the moon here," he said Monday.

"It's enough (to try Saddam) on Dujail and Anfal. The tribunal is just and open, he has a defense lawyer and the verdict will match the crime," he said.

He insisted the Dujail trial should not be drawn out.

"What do we say to the people of Dujail who saw Saddam's aircraft burn their orchards and kill people?'' he said.

"This is unacceptable and I don't want to intervene in judicial proceedings, but why do we say now that more time is needed?,''he added.

Al-Jaafari, whose Dawa Party claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt in Dujail, leads a Shiite-Kurdish coalition Government that came to office six months ago.