Death sentence for Saddam 'will spark more Iraqi violence'

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.

Khalil al-Dulaimi also said he would attend Saddam’s resumed hearings tomorrow on separate charges of genocide against the Kurds, breaking a month-long boycott of the trial.