Saddam Hussein trial resumes as bomb explosions rock Baghdad

BAGHDAD – The trial of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and seven former aides resumed yesterday before the Iraqi High Tribunal as rebels launched a series of bomb, mortar and gun attacks across Baghdad.

Speaking on Iraqi state-television just before the trial resumed, the court’s chief prosecutor, Jaafar Mussawi, said Saddam would hang immediately without undergoing further trials if found guilty and sentenced to death in the present case. Saddam is on trial for crimes against humanity in connection with the killing of 148 villagers from Dujail, north of Baghdad, after he escaped an assassination attempt there in 1982.”If the court passes a death sentence on any of the defendants in the Dujail case, the law is clear, the sentence must be carried out within 30 days following the appeal,” Mussawi said.”As for other cases (in which they have been charged), the court will only judge live defendants as those executed cannot be tried,” he added.Saddam and others have also been charged in connection with other crimes, including the use of poison gas during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war against Iraqi Kurds in Halabja, in the north of the country, and the crushing of a Shi’ite revolt in the south of the country following the 1991 Gulf war.Meanwhile, at least 11 Iraqis were killed Baghdad and some 30 were wounded in a series of attacks early yesterday, an interior ministry official said.In one roadside bomb attack against a US patrol near the airport, on the western outskirts of the city, six Iraqi civilians died and 13 were hurt.There was no immediate word on US casualties.Saddam’s trial, which opened in October, moved Sunday into its 15th hearing with defendants expected to start testifying as to their role in the killing of 148 villagers from the village of Dujail.At a later stage, the court was due to adjourn for the panel of five judges to consider specific charges against each of the defendants.The prosecution and defence would then be required to present further evidence and testimony, before final summing up and the passing of a verdict.Any sentence of death automatically goes before the Iraqi High Tribunal court of appeal.US officials close to the court have suggested the trial might last until June or July.During the last dramatic hearing on March 1, Saddam accepted for the first time in court that he had ordered the trial of Shi’ite suspects implicated in the assassination attempt and signed an order to destroy their orchards.- Nampa-AFPSaddam is on trial for crimes against humanity in connection with the killing of 148 villagers from Dujail, north of Baghdad, after he escaped an assassination attempt there in 1982.”If the court passes a death sentence on any of the defendants in the Dujail case, the law is clear, the sentence must be carried out within 30 days following the appeal,” Mussawi said.”As for other cases (in which they have been charged), the court will only judge live defendants as those executed cannot be tried,” he added.Saddam and others have also been charged in connection with other crimes, including the use of poison gas during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war against Iraqi Kurds in Halabja, in the north of the country, and the crushing of a Shi’ite revolt in the south of the country following the 1991 Gulf war.Meanwhile, at least 11 Iraqis were killed Baghdad and some 30 were wounded in a series of attacks early yesterday, an interior ministry official said.In one roadside bomb attack against a US patrol near the airport, on the western outskirts of the city, six Iraqi civilians died and 13 were hurt.There was no immediate word on US casualties.Saddam’s trial, which opened in October, moved Sunday into its 15th hearing with defendants expected to start testifying as to their role in the killing of 148 villagers from the village of Dujail.At a later stage, the court was due to adjourn for the panel of five judges to consider specific charges against each of the defendants.The prosecution and defence would then be required to present further evidence and testimony, before final summing up and the passing of a verdict.Any sentence of death automatically goes before the Iraqi High Tribunal court of appeal.US officials close to the court have suggested the trial might last until June or July.During the last dramatic hearing on March 1, Saddam accepted for the first time in court that he had ordered the trial of Shi’ite suspects implicated in the assassination attempt and signed an order to destroy their orchards.- Nampa-AFP