Saddam top aide wishes he had been executed with the deposed leader, an Iraqi lawyer said today.

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.

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.

Iraq’s High Tribunal today found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. The visibly shaken former leader shouted “God is great”.

A verdict against Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants charged with crimes against humanity in connection with an anti-Shiite crackdown in the 1980s will be announced on November 5, a senior court official said today.

Court-appointed lawyers today submitted final summations for the last two defendants in Saddam Hussein’s trial in Baghdad.

Saddam Hussein’s trial resumed in Baghdad today for what was expected to be the final session before the verdict.

Two defendants in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein made their closing arguments today, but the judge then adjourned for nearly two weeks in an attempt to resolve a boycott of the court by the former Iraqi leader and his lawyers.

THE prosecution yesterday asked for the death penalty against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and two of his co-defendants.

A prosecutor has asked for the death penalty against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and two of his co-defendants, saying today that the former Iraqi leader and his regime committed crimes against humanity in a “revenge” attack on Shiite civilians in the 1980s.

Prosecutors in the Baghdad trial of Saddam Hussein today played an audiotape said to be a phone call between the former Iraqi leader and one of his co-defendants discussing the destruction of farmlands during a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s.

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.

Three of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants testified for the first time today, denying any role in the deaths and arrests of Shiites in the 1980s, as the trial of the former Iraqi leader entered a new phase.

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.

Saddam Hussein and three co-defendants today claimed they had launched a hunger strike to protest against the chief judge in their trial.

Saddam Hussein accused his American captors of torturing him, claiming at his trial today that he had been beaten “everywhere on my body.” A Shiite witness testified that the former Iraqi leader’s agents had tortured people by ripping off their skin.

One of the five judges in the Saddam Hussein trial has stepped down after learning that one of the defendants may have been involved in the execution of his brother, a court official said today.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyer blamed US-led “occupation forces” today for the killing of a second colleague in the trial and urged Arab leaders to “shoulder their responsibility” to combat disorder here that threatens the proceeding.

Three gunmen in a speeding car killed a defence lawyer in the Saddam Hussein trial and wounded another today in Western Baghdad.

Three gunmen in a speeding car killed a lawyer for a co-defendant in Saddam Hussein’s trial and wounded another today in Baghdad, a member of the defence team and police said.

A lawyer representing a former Iraqi vice president on trial along with Saddam Hussein was assassinated today in western Baghdad, a colleague on the defence team said.

A DEFIANT Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of murder and torture when his long-awaited trial began yesterday with the one-time dictator arguing about the legitimacy of the court and scuffling with guards.

Saddam Hussein today declared himself not guilty of alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis, turning immediately argumentative and challenging the legitimacy of the court as he appeared before a five-judge tribunal 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.

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

LAWYERS for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein complained yesterday that plans to start his trial next month gave him too little time to prepare his defence.

The Iraqi government announced today that the trial of Saddam Hussein will begin on October 19.

Iraqi authorities have set October 19 as the date for the start of the trial of Saddam Hussein, an official said. A Western diplomat discounted the report as ”posturing".

An Iraqi court has decided to begin the first trial of Saddam Hussein on October 19 and is in the process of notifying his legal team, a legal official said today.

THE first criminal case has been filed against Saddam Hussein.

Saddam Hussein and three others will stand trial in the 1982 massacre of Shiite villagers north of Baghdad, a senior judge announced today.

Saddam Hussein’s notorious cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali,” was one of eight former regime officials to be shown today on a tape released by the Iraqi Special tribunal.

A triumphant George Galloway will arrive back in the UK today confident he won the showdown with US senators who have accused him of profiting from Iraq’s oil-for-food scandal.

BRITISH MP George Galloway is to appear before a US Senate committee to defend himself against accusations that he received vouchers for 20 million barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein.

Former UK Labour MP George Galloway will appear before a US Senate committee to defend himself against accusations that he received vouchers for millions of barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein.

A US Senate committee probing corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme released new evidence purporting to show that two leading politicians from Britain and France received millions of barrels of Iraqi oil in exchange for their support of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

A lawyer for Saddam Hussein today condemned plans to try the former Iraqi leader in a US-funded special court, saying it is illegitimate, and said that he and other members of Saddam’s defence team have been denied access to him.

The Iraqi Special Tribunal has completed preliminary investigations into some of the alleged crimes committed by several of Saddam Hussein’s top henchmen, and it will send the first group of five to trial.

Worsening security, legal complexities and the lack of an Iraqi lawyer willing to represent Saddam Hussein make it impossible for the ousted dictator and 11 others to stand trial any time soon, a US official said today.

The 12 former Iraqi regime figures due in court in Baghdad to hear charges against them are: