Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer today implored world leaders to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities for execution, saying the former dictator should enjoy protect from his enemies as a “prisoner of war".

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer today urged the United States not to hand over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities before his expected execution because he is a “war prisoner”.

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.

SADDAM Hussein urged Iraqis yesterday to reject the sectarian violence ripping his country apart and to “not take revenge” on US invaders, his chief lawyer said after the ousted leader was sentenced to death.

Saddam Hussein today accused the chief judge in his genocide trial in Baghdad of violating the law by appointing defense attorneys against his wishes after the ex-president’s own lawyer walked out of the proceedings.

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer walked out of a Baghdad court today after most of his requests were rejected, but the chief judge immediately appointed other lawyers to defend the deposed former Iraqi president.

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer warned today of worsening violence in Iraq and chaos through the Middle East if the ex-president was sentenced to death in his trial on charges of crimes against humanity because of an anti-Shiite crackdown in the 1980s.

A defendant in Saddam Hussein's Kurdish genocide trial told the court today that his lawyer wanted to end his boycott of the Baghdad trial, but when the judge summoned the lawyer, he failed to appear.

Gunmen killed the brother of the chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein’s Kurdish genocide trial today, even as the ex-president called in an open letter for insurgents to forgive their American enemies and for Iraqis to forgive each other and stop sectarian killings.

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer vowed to continue boycotting his Kurdish genocide trial today to protest the removal of the trial’s first chief judge and the court’s refusal to allow defence lawyers to examine thousands of documents.

Iraq’s prime minister announced a new plan aimed at ending the deepening crisis between Shiite and Sunni parties in his government and uniting them behind the drive to stop sectarian killings that have bloodied the country for months.

SECURITY forces are closing in on the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a senior Iraqi official said yesterday, showing a captured video of the terror chief teaching followers how to build a car bomb.

Security forces are closing in on the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a senior official said today, showing a captured video of the terror chief teaching followers how to build a car bomb.

The chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial threw the ex-president out of the Baghdad courtroom today in a stormy session boycotted by the former ruler’s defence team.

Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial resumed in Baghdad today, but without lawyers representing the former Iraqi president or any of the other six defendants. Saddam was present in the courtroom.

IRAQI Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday called for Shi’ites and Sunnis to use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to put aside their differences, while authorities reported that at least 20 people were killed in violence across the country.

Saddam Hussein was hospitalised and fed with a tube on the 17th day of a hunger strike to ensure he was healthy enough to continue with his trial, the chief prosecutor said. The procedure came as the ex-leader’s troubled trial nears a verdict that could lead to his hanging.

THE largest Sunni Arab bloc in Iraq’s parliament said yesterday it was suspending its participation in the legislature until a kidnapped colleague was released, dealing a blow to efforts to involve the disaffected minority in the political process.

Forensic experts unearthing the skeletons of Saddam Hussein’s alleged victims have found an unexpected wealth of identification cards in mass graves, investigators say.

Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants went on an indefinite hunger strike today to protest at the killing of an Iraqi attorney who sits on the defence team.

One of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers was killed today after he was abducted from his home by men wearing police uniforms in Baghdad.

The defence team in the trial of Saddam Hussein protested today over the arrest of four of its witnesses, saying some of them were beaten by Iraqi guards.

Four defence witnesses in the trial of Saddam Hussein were arrested after giving their testimony this week, Saddam’s chief lawyer said from Jordan today, accusing Iraqi authorities of trying to intimidate them.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says he believes Iraqi forces are capable of taking over security around the country within 18 months, but he did not mention a timetable for US-led coalition forces to leave.

AMERICAN reporter Jill Carroll, who was kidnapped three months ago in an ambush that killed her translator, was released from captivity yesterday and said she had not been harmed.

Gunmen attacked the car of a top Sunni political leader in Baghdad today, killing one bodyguard and wounding five.

Saddam Hussein’s defence lawyers ended their month-long boycott of his Baghdad trial, attending proceedings today even though the judge rejected their demands that he step down.

Sunni Arabs are ready to end their boycott of talks to form a new government if rival Shiites return mosques seized in last week’s sectarian attacks and meet other unspecified demands, a Sunni official said today.

Iraq’s state television has begun broadcasting appeals for the release of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll including footage of her mother and a major Sunni Arab politician describing the 28-year-old freelancer as a friend of Iraq.

The chief lawyer representing Saddam Hussein said today he was wrong in reporting that the former Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants would begin a hunger strike to protest the “illegality” of the court hearing their case.

Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants will begin a hunger strike tomorrow in protest at the “illegality” of the court where they are being tried as well as the US-led invasion which toppled the Iraqi government, chief lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said today.

Saddam Hussein and four other defendants refused to attend at a new session of their trial today and their lawyers boycotted the proceedings, demanding the removal of the chief judge, who they claim is biased against the former Iraqi leader.

A bomb exploded alongside a group of Iraqi men waiting for work in eastern Baghdad today, killing at least eight and wounding more than 50.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S chief lawyer yesterday said that the deposed Iraqi president wanted British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush tried on allegations of committing war crimes.

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer today said that the deposed Iraqi president wanted British prime minister Tony Blair and US president George Bush tried on allegations of committing war crimes.

AN ALLIANCE of Shi’ite religious parties won the most seats in Iraq’s new parliament, results showed yesterday, but not enough to rule without coalition partners as Sunni Arabs gained seats over previous ballots.

Thousands of angry Shiites today rallied in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum against a spree of attacks that killed almost 200 people and to protest what they claim was American backing for Sunni Arabs politicians who have supported insurgent groups.

Sunni Arab and secular political groups joined forces today to decide whether to reject the results of last week’s parliamentary election and call for a revote.

Sunni Arabs and a key secular party charged that parliamentary elections were tainted by fraud, and demanded an inquiry into preliminary results showing the governing Shiite religious bloc with a larger than expected lead.

Sunni Arab participation in the Iraqi elections could have been even higher if there had there been more polling centres in key Sunni areas, a head of the largest Sunni Arab slate said today.

FOUR US Army soldiers died in a roadside bombing, gunmen killed a Sunni Arab candidate for parliament, and militants tried to blow up a leading Shi’ite politician in separate attacks yesterday.

The court trying Saddam Hussein and seven others for a 1982 massacre of 148 Shiites expects defence lawyers to attend next week’s hearing, despite their threat to boycott the trial, a US official close to the proceedings said today.

Police have arrested an Iraqi woman would-be suicide bomber who failed to detonate her explosives inside one of Amman’s three bombed hotels, Jordanese officials announced today in a dramatic breakthrough in the case.