US and Iraqi forces set up extra checkpoints, boosted patrols, and blocked traffic across a main Baghdad bridge today, one day before the expected announcement of a verdict – and possible death sentence – in the trial of former leader Saddam Hussein.

If Saddam Hussein is condemned to death when the verdict in his first trial is handed down on Sunday, it would “open the gates of hell” to US forces in Iraq, a lawyer for the deposed president said today.

Tariq Aziz, once a close member of Saddam Hussein’s inner circle, took the stand today as a defence witness in the Baghdad trial of the former Iraqi leader.