Saddam's murder trial set to begin

The former dictator could be executed if found guilty.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will enter a bulletproof cage in the center of an Iraqi courtroom Wednesday for the start of his trial on murder charges.
Unlike the trial in The Hague, Netherlands, of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam will be tried by a court of his countrymen, not an international tribunal.
Saddam -- along with seven co-defendants -- will be placed in a cage in the middle of the courtroom. To their right will be the defense counsel's table; to the left, the prosecution. In front of the cage will be the bench, a panel of five judges.
It will be a televised national -- and international -- spectacle, before a public that's thrilled to see the fallen dictator called to account for his alleged crimes, but mournful to be reminded of the toll his rule took.
Importance
It also promises to be a cathartic moment for American viewers. The United States has fought two wars against Saddam, losing nearly 2,000 soldiers so far in the current conflict and nearly 300 in the Persian Gulf War.
For Iraqis, the trial will be a demarcation line between the old regime and the new and assuage lingering fears that the dictator might rule again. U.S. and Iraqi officials hope that the trial will weaken the insurgency, made up in part of former members of Saddam's Baath Party who remain loyal to him.
Many also hope that the trial will give Iraqis a sense of justice and closure.
Unlike in U.S. courts, all defendants associated with a crime will be tried together. Saddam and his co-defendants are charged with the 1982 killings of 143 people in Dujail. Saddam is accused of ordering the killings shortly after an assassination attempt against him in the small northern Iraqi city.
If convicted, he could be executed, even before he faces any other charges.
Assassination attempt
In Dujail, a city that's small enough for nearly everyone to be touched by the deaths of 143 people, life is still largely defined by the assassination attempt. The mayor went to jail for his alleged role in the plot, where he was tortured, he said. Residents said Monday that they were sad about what had happened to them -- and the fact that their attempt failed.
Shortly after the attempt, Saddam allegedly ordered the killings of men who'd been seen in the area when the shots were fired or who'd been implicated in the attempt.
Faris Jassim al-Ameen said he was part of the assassination attempt. He said the mission failed because the assailants had only small handguns and rifles. "It was just a lack of planning," al-Ameen said.
Mohammed Hassan Mahmoud, the mayor, said the town wanted to kill Saddam not to create a new government but to avenge the 1980 killing of a revered local sheik.
"I am still suffering from the traces of torture on my body and I am still not feeling well. My shoulder was dislocated and my hand was broken. I have rheumatism in my joints because of the torture," Mahmoud said. "The court will give us the hope that we have been waiting a long time for. We don't want the court to exact revenge. We want the court to apply justice."
The case is one of more than a dozen that the Iraqi Special Tribunal plans to bring against the former dictator. Officials said they hadn't decided which would be next.
Documents
The chief prosecutor -- who for security reasons didn't want his name released until the trial started -- said the Dujail case against the former dictator hinged largely on documents Saddam wrote and signed that ordered the killings. The documents were salvaged from palaces and government buildings shortly after Saddam was overthrown in 2003. He said he'd also rely on about 30 witnesses, most of whom will be shielded in the courtroom during their testimony.
The chief prosecutor, who works in an office in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, said he was spending the last days before the trial preparing his opening statement and planned to spend the night rehearsing it. So far, it's 40 pages, he said.
The trial will begin with the court identifying the defendants and reading them the charges. The prosecution then will give the opening statement.