An Iraqi appeals court today upheld death sentences imposed against “Chemical Ali” al-Majid and two other Saddam Hussein lieutenants convicted of crimes against humanity for their roles a massacre of Kurds, a judge said.

The bodies of Saddam Hussein’s sons and a grandson have been exhumed and reburied near the ousted Iraqi leader’s grave in his hometown north of Baghdad.

An Iraqi court today raised the sentence against Saddam Hussein’s vice president to death by hanging for the killings of Shiites in the town of Dujail.

The half-brother of Saddam Hussein and the former head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court were hanged before dawn today, two weeks and two days after the former dictator was executed in a disturbing scene that drew worldwide criticism.

An Iraqi government official today said that preparations were being made to hang two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants tomorrow.

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein tonight asked a US judge in Washington to block his transfer to the custody of Iraqi officials poised to carry out his execution.

IRAQ’S highest appeals court yesterday upheld the death sentence on Saddam Hussein.

Iraq’s highest appeals court upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s national security adviser said today.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyers have formally appealed against his death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiites.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyers today appealed the death sentence against their toppled Iraqi leader, accusing the court of trying to delay the process.

IRAQ’S appeals court is expected to rule on Saddam Hussein’s guilty verdict and death sentence by the middle of January, the chief prosecutor said yesterday.

Iraq's appeals court is expected to rule on Saddam Hussein's guilty verdict and death sentence by the middle of January, the chief prosecutor said today.

Baghdad and two restive Sunni provinces were today locked under 24-hour curfew in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s death sentence for crimes against humanity in Iraq.

Defiant, raging and arrogant to the end, Saddam Hussein shouted: “God is great,” as he was sentenced to hang, then walked from the courtroom with a smirk on his face.

SADDAM HUSSEIN was convicted and sentenced yesterday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shi’ite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted “God is great”.

Iraq's High Tribunal today found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging.

An American lawyer on Saddam Hussein’s defence team today lashed out at the Baghdad court trying him, saying it was not giving the defence enough time to present its case, intimidated its witnesses and put the defence at “a serious disadvantage”.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S trial resumed yesterday, and heard that his regime was justified in a crackdown on Shi’ites.

Saddam Hussein was today formally charged with crimes against humanity, including torture of women and children, murder and the illegal arrest of 399 people in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s. A defiant Saddam refused to enter a plea.

HANDWRITING experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signature on memos approving death sentences for 148 Shi’ites and the confiscation of farmlands during the 1980s, the judge said yesterday.

A CAR bomb exploded yesterday in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, killing at least 10 people.

SADDAM HUSSEIN was cross-examined for the first time in his six-month-old trial yesterday, saying he approved death sentences against Shi’ites in the 1980s.

Saddam Hussein testified today for the first time at his trial, calling on Iraqis to stop a bloody wave of sectarian violence and instead fight American troops, prompting the chief judge to close the courtroom, saying he was making political speeches.

Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, has denied taking part in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s as he testified today for the first time in the trial of the former Iraqi leader and members of his regime.

A former judge from Saddam Hussein’s regime acknowledged sentencing 148 Shiites to death in the 1980s, but insisted they were given a proper trial and had confessed to trying to assassinate the former Iraqi leader.

A former judge from Saddam Hussein’s regime today insisted that 148 Shiites he sentenced to death in Iraq were given a proper trial, trying to defend himself on charges of killing the men in a crackdown in the 1980s.

The trial of Saddam Hussein and fellow members of his regime resumed today, with the judge calling in each defendant individually to present his testimony.

A DEFIANT Saddam Hussein admitted in court yesterday that he ordered the trial of 148 Shi’ites eventually executed in the 1980s.

PROSECUTORS at Saddam Hussein's trial presented a document yesterday they said was signed by the former leader approving the executions of more than 140 Shi'ites in southern Iraq after an assassination attempt in the 1980s.

A DEFENCE lawyer in Saddam Hussein’s mass murder trial has been found dead, his body dumped near a Baghdad mosque with two gunshots to the head.

The body of a defence lawyer in Saddam Hussein’s mass murder trial was found dumped in the street with two bullet wounds in the head hours after gunmen dragged him from his office, terrorising the defence team, who today demanded the trial be further postponed or even moved out of Iraq.

A defence lawyer in Saddam Hussein’s mass murder trial who was kidnapped has been found dead, his body dumped near a Baghdad mosque, police and a top lawyers’ union official said today.

Saddam Hussein went on trial today for alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis, turning immediately argumentative as he appeared in a tightly secured courtroom in the former headquarters of his Baath Party two years after his capture.

Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will face charges of premeditated murder, torture and forced expulsion and disappearances when he goes on trial on Wednesday for a 1982 massacre of Shiites.