Former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz went on trial today accused of involvement in the murders of dozens of food suppliers.

IRAQI security forces were on high alert yesterday around Baghdad and in the Sunni heartland north of the capital as the country marked the one-year anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s execution.

An Iraqi appeals court today upheld death sentences imposed against “Chemical Ali” al-Majid and two other Saddam Hussein lieutenants convicted of crimes against humanity for their roles a massacre of Kurds, a judge said.

Two former Saddam Hussein aides were ejected from a Baghdad courtroom for unruly behaviour today on the second day of a trial over the brutal crushing of a 1991 rebellion in Iraq by Shiite Muslims.

Saddam Hussein’s former deputy was hanged before dawn today for his part in the killings of 148 Shiites, despite appeals from international human rights groups.

The Iraqi government asked US authorities this evening for custody of Saddam Hussein’s former deputy to hang him at dawn tomorrow, officials in the prime minister’s office said.

Traffic stopped and people stood still in the streets despite rain for a period of silence today as Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the anniversary of a 1988 chemical weapons attack that killed an estimated 5,600 people.

An Iraqi court has upheld the death sentence against Saddam Hussein’s former deputy for his role in the killing of 148 Shiites in 1982.

The bodies of Saddam Hussein’s sons and a grandson have been exhumed and reburied near the ousted Iraqi leader’s grave in his hometown north of Baghdad.

An Iraqi court today raised the sentence against Saddam Hussein’s vice president to death by hanging for the killings of Shiites in the town of Dujail.

A criminal court has ordered a Kuwaiti newspaper to close for three days for publishing what it ruled were “indecent” photos of Saddam Hussein’s granddaughter, but the newspaper has appealed, its lawyer said today.

Twin car bombs tore through a leading Baghdad university as students left classes yesterday, killing 70 people in the deadliest single attack in nearly two months and marking a full-fledged resumption of sectarian violence.

The official video of hanging of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants screened for reporters today shows the former leader's half brother lying headless below gallows, his severed head several yards away.

The half-brother of Saddam Hussein and the former head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court were hanged before dawn today, two weeks and two days after the former dictator was executed in a disturbing scene that drew worldwide criticism.

Hours before Saddam Hussein’s execution, the ousted Iraqi leader asked his lawyers not to appeal for his life and accused the United States and Iran of collaborating to hang him, according to a copy of his will.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani today called for the execution of two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants to be delayed.

Two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants were taken from their cells and told they were going to be hanged on the same day the former Iraqi dictator was executed, their lawyer said.

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

Iraq’s prime minister has ordered an investigation into Saddam Hussein’s execution to try to uncover who taunted the former dictator in the last minutes of his life, and who leaked footage taken by camera phone of the hanging.

Sunni Muslims, angered by the execution of Saddam Hussein and the hurried and undignified way his hanging was carried out, have taken to the streets of Iraq in mainly peaceful demonstrations.

Saddam Hussein "remained fearless, honest, and clear-minded" in his final moments, his legal defence team said today in a statement.

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

Members of Iraq’s parliament and families of Saddam Hussein’s victims will witness the former leader’s execution, planned to take place no later than tomorrow.

Iraq’s prime minister today said those who opposed the execution of Saddam Hussein were insulting the honour of his dead victims.

A top Vatican official condemned the death sentence against Saddam Hussein in a newspaper interview published today, saying capital punishment goes against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

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”.

A top Vatican official today condemned the death sentence against Saddam Hussein in a newspaper interview.

Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party today threatened to retaliate if the ousted Iraqi leader is executed, warning in an internet posting it would target US interests anywhere.

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.

A court in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein heard harrowing accounts today that the former Iraqi leader’s forces beheaded a mentally-ill Kurdish man and pushed three other Kurds out of a helicopter in mid-air during a crackdown 20 years ago.

A Baghdad court saw chilling videos of gassed children lying in a field and villagers fleeing clouds of white smoke as prosecutors today argued that Saddam Hussein and his regime had used chemical weapons against the Kurds of northern Iraq in the late 1980s.

Saddam Hussein’s trial on genocide charges against the Kurds resumed in Iraq today after an 11-day break.

A lawyer for Saddam Hussein has appealed to a US court in an attempt to win a stay of execution for the former leader, arguing Saddam’s rights were violated by US troops.

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.

After nearly a quarter-century of severed ties, Iraq said it would resume diplomatic relations with neighbouring Syria – a move seen as a possible step toward stemming some of the unrelenting violence, which claimed another 100 lives.

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.

A defence lawyer in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial in Baghdad today demanded that the court investigate the alleged ransacking of the defence team’s office in the US-controlled Green Zone.

IRISH bishops have condemned the death sentence imposed on deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Two days after being sentenced to hang, a sombre and subdued Saddam Hussein today called on Iraqis to “forgive, reconcile and shake hands” as he returned to court for his Kurdish genocide trial.

A sombre Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to forgive each other today, when he returned to court in Iraq two days after another panel of judges had condemned him to death for crimes against humanity.

Iran today called for the death sentence on the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to be carried out, saying he was a criminal who deserved to die.