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

US-based Human Rights Watch today said that the trial against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in which he was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity was not carried out fairly.

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 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”.

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.

Prison guards under Saddam Hussein used to bury detainees alive and watch women as they bathed, occasionally shooting over their heads, a former female prisoner testified today in the Baghdad genocide trial of the former Iraqi president.

Saddam Hussein’s trial on genocide charges against the Kurds resumed today after a 12-day break with the former Iraqi leader and his co-defendants in the courtroom, but their lawyers absent.

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.

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.

A Kurdish security officer testifying in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial in Baghdad, Iraq, today showed the court body burns he allegedly received when armies of the deposed leader attacked his northern Iraqi village in 1988.

A 56-year-old Kurdish woman told of seeing people sickened and dying during an alleged chemical attack carried out by Saddam Hussein’s forces, as the genocide trial of the ex-president resumed in Baghdad today after nearly a three-week break.

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.

Doctors in Baghdad are advising Saddam Hussein that refusing food could be bad for his health because the ousted president has not eaten in nearly two weeks, a US military spokesman said today.

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.

Saddam Hussein’s former intelligence chief was manhandled by guards as they dragged him out of court today for arguing with the judge, fuelling defence protests that it is being treated unfairly in the trial of the ousted Iraqi leader and members of his regime.

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.

THE defence presented witnesses yesterday in the trial of Saddam Hussein and former members of his regime, a day after a judge formally charged them with crimes against humanity.

Relatives of defendants in the trial of Saddam Hussein and former members of his regime took the stand in Baghdad today as the defence tried to knock down charges of crimes against humanity that carry a possible death penalty by hanging.

Handwriting experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signature on memos approving death sentences for 148 Shiites and the confiscation of farmlands during an Iraqi crackdown in the 1980s, the chief judge in the former Iraqi leader’s trial said today.

The authenticity of Saddam Hussein’s signature on documents connected to a crackdown on Shiites was confirmed by experts, prosecutors said today in a new session of the former Iraqi leader's trial.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyers will attend this week’s trial session, a month after they walked out in protest and accusing the chief judge of being biased against their client, one of the lawyers said today.

Saddam Hussein’s trial is set to resume tomorrow with the ex-Iraqi president and his seven co-defendants vowing to continue their boycott of the proceedings, the former ruler’s lawyers said today.

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.

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.

Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his lawyers will boycott the next session of the deposed leader’s trial in Baghdad to protest the alleged “bias” of the new chief judge appointed to hear the case, his chief lawyer told The Associated Press today.

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.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyers today said the Iraqi court that is trying the deposed leader for war crimes was unlikely to provide him a fair trial.

LARGE demonstrations broke out across Iraq yesterday to denounce parliamentary elections that protesters called rigged in favour of the main religious Shi’ite coalition.

Large demonstrations broke out across Iraq today to denounce parliamentary elections that protesters called rigged in favour of the main religious Shiite coalition.

A lawyer for Saddam Hussein has said he saw evidence his client had been beaten this week and when the two first met.

Saddam Hussein was expected to show up when his Baghdad trial reconvenes today, two weeks after he boycotted the last session and vowed not to appear before an “unjust” court.

Saddam Hussein warned the judge in his trial today that he could be held accountable for his actions during the proceedings.

Saddam Hussein’s defence team walked out of the court in Baghdad today after the chief trial judge refused to allow former Attorney General Ramsey Clark to challenge the tribunal’s legitimacy in an address to the session.