Saddam 'faces execution' if convicted in first trial

Saddam Hussein could be executed if he is sentenced to death in the first of several anticipated trials – even if other proceedings against him are still pending, an official close to the proceedings said today.

The official said he expected the first trial to begin by autumn.

Iraqi officials have not set a trial date for the first proceedings, which involves Saddam’s alleged role in the 1982 massacre of an estimated 150 Shiites in Dujail north of Baghdad. He could face the death penalty.

Iraqi authorities are also building about a dozen other cases against Saddam which they intend to try separately.

The official said that if the court sentences Saddam to death in the Dujail case, they could “theoretically” carry out the sentence without waiting for the other trials to start.

“If the sentence were to be the death penalty, I think that the court will have to make a decision based on international principles, Iraqi law, whether or not there is need for him in another case for the prosecution or another defendant,” the official said. “It’s possible but it’s going depend on the circumstances when it happens, what other cases are going on.”

A five-judge panel is expected to set a date for the Dujail trial “within the next few weeks,” he added,

He said the trial will be open and transparent because “the public needs to see if the process is fair.”

“They need to see that justice has been done and so the Iraqi Special Tribunal recognises that, the government recognises that,” he added. “Steps will need to be taken to make sure that as much of the trial as possible is televised that the Iraqi people can watch it as it is taking place or there could be small time delay.”

Other charges against Saddam include killing rival politicians over 30 years, the 1987-88 Anfal campaign that left tens of thousands of Kurds dead or displaced and the crushing of a 1991 uprising by Shiites following the Gulf War.

He said that if the court is allowed to work without political interference, “you can expect to see trials that are transparent, that are fair, that are up to international standards that are in compliance with international law.”

Saddam, who ruled Iraq for 23 years with an iron fist, has been in US custody since he was captured in December 2003 near his hometown of Tikrit. Saddam, 68, was removed from power in April 2003 by a US-led invasion.

Saddam’s family on Monday fired most of his defence team, saying his only lawyer is Iraqi Khalil al-Dulaimi.