Saddam Hussein will be executed before 6am Saturday Baghdad time (3am Irish Time), a senior Iraqi government official said tonight.

Iraqi police arrested eight Sunni Arabs for allegedly plotting to kill the judge who prepared the indictment of Saddam Hussein, the day before the ousted leader’s trial for crimes against humanity resumes.

The courtroom will be the same but uncertainty surrounds nearly everything else as the trial of Saddam Hussein resumes today after a five-week recess.