Former US attorney general joins Saddam's defence
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-28 14:47

PLOT TO KILL JUDGE

Monday is expected to move the trial into a dramatic new phase as witnesses take the stand for the first time. With security at a premium, at least some of the prosecution testimony will be given from behind a protective screen.

Death threats have already been made against some witnesses, residents of Dujail told a Reuters cameraman there on Saturday.

The trial is expected to continue for at least three days, although the judge will also be asked to consider defence motions for another adjournment when he opens Monday's session.

One defence lawyer told Reuters that the team would seek at least a further three-month postponement.

Even if the trial does proceed without delay this week, it is widely expected that it will be adjourned in early December as the country prepares for national elections.

Saddam Hussein speaks to the Presiding Judge Rizgur Ameen Hana Al-Saedi as his trial begins in a heavily fortified courthouse in Baghdad's Green Zone in this October 19, 2005 file photo. [Reuters/file]

As well as the assassinations of the two defence lawyers, others involved in the trial have been targeted by insurgents.

An Iraqi police chief told Reuters on Sunday that eight men had been detained in the northern city of Kirkuk and had confessed to plotting to kill Raed Jouhi, the chief investigator of the tribunal who built the case against Saddam.

Colonel Anwar Khader Mohammed said the men were seized four days ago. They were found with bomb-making equipment, maps, and a letter from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former top deputy, urging them to track down and kill Jouhi.

Jouhi has already survived one attempt on his life. He and other members of the tribunal, including the five-judge panel and the chief prosecutor, are tightly protected.

Human rights and justice groups say they doubt the ability of the trial to proceed freely and fairly under such precarious security conditions. They will be in court observing the trial on Monday.

Amin, the chief judge, said in an interview with German weekly magazine Focus that he had considered having the trial moved to the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, which is safer.

"A trial should be conducted under the most normal conditions possible," he was quoted as saying. "But the situation these days in Iraq is, unfortunately, not normal.