How is Saddam Hussein being tried?

The former Iraqi leader is being tried along with others by Iraq's Special Tribunal (IST). The trial is being held inside Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone in a heavily guarded courtroom.

Saddam is facing Iraqi justice after 35 years of brutal rule

A panel of five judges is hearing the trial, which is being televised.

The court follows Iraqi civil law, based on the French and Egyptian models, where the judge is the chief investigator and there is no jury.

Although grounded in international law, the trial will deviate from past war crimes or crimes against humanity tribunals on some key points. Unlike most other such tribunals, Saddam Hussein could face the death penalty and will be tried by his own countrymen.

The defendants have heard the charges against them in person. Saddam Hussein's chief defence strategist is Abdel Haq Alani, an Iraqi lawyer based in Britain. It has been reported that an unspecified number of international lawyers could soon join the defence team.

The former Iraqi leader will have the right to call witnesses. If convicted, he will have the right to appeal the sentence. The appeal will be held before a nine-judge tribunal.

What has he been charged with?

To begin with Saddam Hussein was charged - along with seven others - with the killing of more than 140 men in the mostly Shia town of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt against him.

The following is a description of the case taken from IST documents:

"In July 1982, a small group of villagers attacked Saddam Hussein's convoy as it travelled through the town, located about 60 kilometres north of Baghdad. As a result, several state security forces of Saddam's regime composed of units from the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Intelligence Service and the Baath Party descended upon the Dujail. In the following few days, hundreds of people were arrested, some were executed and others including women, men and children were wrongly arrested and held at Sumawa desert in Lia location for four years. In addition, the fruit groves of the families of those arrested were destroyed."

On 4 April 2005, the tribunal announced fresh criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and six others for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity in a campaign against the Kurds dating back to the late 1980s.

The Anfal campaign resulted in the death and displacement of tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds who were subject to repressive decrees and military operations forcing them out of "prohibited areas" in northern Iraq.

Who else is being tried?

Seven others are being tried alongside Saddam Hussein for the Dujail charges. These include two members of the former leader's inner circle and five lesser officials:

• Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti: Saddam's half-brother and former head of the intelligence service. He is believed to have tortured and murdered thousands of opponents of the regime. He was captured on 16 April 2003.

   

• Taha Yassin Ramadan: The former vice-president was captured on 18 August 2003 in Mosul. He is suspected of involvement in some of the most lethal operations conducted by Saddam's regime, including Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990, the repression of Shia Muslims in 1991 and the gassing of Kurds in Halabja in 1988.

   

• Awad Hamad al-Bandar: Former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court.

   

• Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid, Mizher Abdullah Rawed, Ali Daeem Ali and Mohammed Azawi Ali: All former Baath party officials with responsibility for the Dujail area.

   

• Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan Majid, popularly known Chemical Ali, the alleged architect of the anti-Kurdish campaign and mastermind of the 1988 Halabja attack, when thousands of civilian Kurds died in a chemical and nerve agent attack.

   

• Former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed, former intelligence chief Saber Abdul Aziz, former Republican Guard commander Hussein Rashid al-Tirkiti, a former Nineveh governor Taher Muhammad al-Ani and former military commander Farhan al-Jibouri.

How is Saddam fighting the case?

Saddam Hussein's lawyers have question the legitimacy of the court that was set up in 2003 under the US occupation.

Speaking to the BBC in the run-up to the trial, lawyer Abdel Haq Alani said that the tribunal was: "drafted by an occupying power."

"It has no right under international law to change the legal system of an occupied land," he said.

Mr Alani also told the BBC that in the Dujail case, the defence will argue that those killed in the village had been found guilty under Iraq's laws and Saddam Hussein's only role was to sign their death warrants.

International human rights groups have expressed various concerns with the court and with the application of the death penalty.

The US-based Human Rights Watch questions whether the court is able to provide a fair trial. For example, guilt does not have to be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" but instead the tribunal has to be "satisfied" of guilt. The former is the standard for other international courts.

They have also questioned the legitimacy of the Tribunal as it was established during occupation, and expressed their concern about the lack of consultation prior to drafting the statute that established the tribunal.

Could other charges be brought?

Saddam Hussein and his associates may be charged with other crimes at a later date.

The court is believed to be preparing cases that include the suppression of the 1991 Shia and Kurdish uprisings; the launching of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war; and the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The attack on Halabja was simultaneous with, but not technically part of, the Anfal campaign and is expected to be dealt with in separate charges.

Correspondents say it is not clear whether Saddam Hussein or his co-defendants would face execution if found guilty in the Dujail case before the Anfal trial and others conclude.