Saddam faces judgement day

BAGHAD, Wednesday (AFP) Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein gets his day in court in the first of what could be several trials for atrocities committed during his decades in power.

The long-awaited trial begins amid high security and a veil of secrecy just four days after a largely peaceful referendum on a proposed new constitution for Iraq.

The vote, the second since Saddam was toppled in April 2003 by US-led forces, is widely expected to approve the charter, though election officials say results will be unknown for days because of "anomalies."

It remains unclear if the trial will help push Iraq's nascent democracy forward or deepen the divide between the Sunni Arabs, favored during his regime, and the country's Kurds and majority Shiite communities.

An Internet statement attributed to Saddam's now illegal Baath party called on his supporters to "salute the leader" when the trial starts "by firing bullets and mortars of death at the occupier" as well as "agents in the (Iraqi) army and the symbols of treason."

The "illegal trial will turn a new page for the Jihad (holy war) of the Iraqi armed resistance," which they claim Saddam himself organized and prepared.

Saddam, 68, is also likely to face charges over the gassing of 5,000 people in the Kurdish village of Halabja in March 1988; the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, during which around one million people were killed; the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and the violent suppression of a Shiite uprising the following year.

Tehran itself took the opportunity of the trial to send Baghdad its own indictments against Saddam for alleged crimes during the Iran-Iraq war.

"The plaintiff is the entire Iranian nation. The crimes have affected all families," Iranian Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad said.

He described the indictment as "the people of Iran versus Saddam and his collaborators".

Karimi-Rad said the complaints included "using chemical weapons ... genocide, crimes against humanity, violating international conventions ... violating all Islamic and ethical principles" as well as "killing clerics, women, children and innocent people."

Yet these more high-profile cases have been put aside for a realtively obscure case: the 1982 killing of 143 residents of the Shiite village of Dujail, allegedly as revenge for an attempt on Saddam's life. Saddam is charged along with three former top lieutenants and four local Baath party officials. All face the death penalty if convicted.

The case will make history in the region as it marks the first time an Arab leader goes on trial for crimes against his own people.

At a pre-trial hearing in July 2004, Saddam appeared defiant and combative.

The former all-powerful ruler of Iraq, who used to compare himself to great leaders of the past like Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, now faces a panel of five judges in tribunal specially set up to try crimes of his regime.

But neither Saddam's capture nor Iraq's slow march to democracy have quelled the violent insurgency, which has forced four of the five judges handling the case to remain anonymous.

The fallen dictator is being held at a US-run prison near the Baghdad airport, which used to carry his name.

He is to be tried in the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone, said Special Tribunal spokesman Raed al-Judi.

But all other details have been kept under wraps, including the exact time and the location of the court, and journalists covering the trial have undergone US background checks.

Juhi said last week hearings would be held in public and open to the press unless the court decided otherwise.

He hoped the proceedings would be televised, like last year's hearing.

Can the trial be fair?

Human Rights Watch, which exhaustively documented atrocities committed during Saddam's regimes, has doubts.

The US-based rights group said problems with the tribunal and its statute include no requirement to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, disputes among Iraqi politicos over court control, and requirements banning the commutation of death sentences.

And the London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International said it has sent three delegates to Baghdad to ensure that the trial is fair. The group opposes the death penalty.

Despite the media hoopla, Wednesday's court appearance is likely to be limited to prosaic matters. Saddam and his co-defendants will give their names, the judge will read the charges, and all indications are that trial will be postponed for weeks - possibly pushing the real courtroom fireworks into next year.