Saddam trial forges on

Iraqi students hold pictures of Saddam Hussein during a demonstration in support of the ousted dictator in Tikrit, Iraq. (AP Photo / November 28, 2005)

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Saddam Hussein's trial is set to resume today after a six-week break marred by the assassinations of two defense lawyers and growing concerns about the safety of nearly everyone involved in the proceedings.

Hussein and seven officials of his ousted regime are accused of ordering the executions of ' Shia Muslims in the village of Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt on the Iraqi dictator. The trial - convened in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone by a special Iraqi tribunal - opened on Oct. 19 and adjourned within hours to give the defense more time to prepare.

Since the adjournment, hopes for a smooth trial have been tarnished by the lawyers' killings, by concerns that witnesses might be too afraid to testify, and by a foiled plot to kill the judge who prepared the indictment against Hussein. Until they struck a deal last week with Iraqi officials to improve security, defense lawyers had threatened to boycott the proceedings because the court had not agreed to authorize and pay for bodyguards for each attorney. At least one lawyer for each of the eight defendants is expected to appear in court today, when the prosecution begins calling witnesses.

The Dujail case does not cover the most serious charges against Hussein, of crimes against humanity and genocide, but it is the only case in which prosecutors have concluded their investigation. Iraqi officials have made contradictory statements about whether Hussein would stand trial in broader cases after the Dujail proceedings. All eight defendants face a maximum sentence of death by hanging.

A quick or a slow trial?

The trial illustrates a divide in Iraqi society between leaders who are seeking a swift conviction that leads to Hussein's execution and others who want a long court case that would catalog all of Hussein's crimes. They argue that a thorough trial would help start a process of national reconciliation.

"It is much more difficult than a typical murder trial," said John Quigley, an international law professor at Ohio State University. "There is a political element which is very hard to overlook, particularly because the trial is being conducted inside Iraq instead of at an international tribunal."

There are serious risks to bringing Hussein to justice while Iraq faces a raging insurgency. Some Iraqis warn that any trial - especially if perceived not to meet international standards - could further inflame tensions between the Shia-dominated government and the Sunni minority, which formed the core of Hussein's regime and now is driving the insurgency.

Sectarian tensions emerged a day after the trial's adjournment, when masked gunmen abducted Saadoun al-Janabi, who was defending the former head of Hussein's Revolutionary Court. His body was later found with several bullets in his head. Then on Nov. 8, gunmen ambushed two lawyers who were representing Hussein's former vice president. One of the lawyers was killed and the other wounded. Both attacks were blamed on Shia militias, some of which operate under the auspices of Iraq's Interior Ministry.

A foiled assassination plot

On Saturday, Iraqi police arrested eight Sunnis for plotting to assassinate the judge who prepared the indictments in the Dujail case. Iraqi officials said the men were captured in the northern city of Kirkuk and were carrying written instructions from one of Hussein's former top aides, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, ordering them to kill investigating judge Raed Juhi.

For some Iraqis, the cycle of violence surrounding the trial highlights the need for a longer adjournment. They also worry that the proceedings are too close to national elections on Dec. 15.

"With the security situation still out of control, it's a miscalculation to put Saddam on trial right now," said Sheik Fatih Kashif Ghitta, a prominent Shia cleric in Baghdad. "The Iraqi government should be focused on holding a free and fair election."

Hussein's lawyers have said they will request a three-month adjournment. They also will challenge the court's legitimacy and argue that Hussein enjoyed immunity from prosecution under the Iraqi constitution that was in force when he was president.

It might take months, perhaps even years, to conduct full trials in up to a dozen cases in which Hussein could be charged. Many Sunnis argue that the Shia- and Kurdish-led government is exerting pressure on the independent tribunal to try Hussein and execute him quickly.

"Politicians should immediately cease their continuing efforts to manipulate these trials for political gain," said Miranda Sissons, an observer at Hussein's trial for the Manhattan-based International Center for Transitional Justice.

U.S. officials, who have financed and advised the tribunal since its creation, urged the panel to try a "test case" against some of Hussein's lieutenants before putting the dictator himself on trial. But the tribunal judges decided to prosecute Hussein first.

A tight rein on Hussein

In doing so, the judges risk providing Hussein with a televised platform to inspire insurgents and challenge his ouster by U.S. invaders. Iraqi officials say they have taken steps to prevent Hussein from grandstanding, as former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has done at his war crimes trial in The Hague.

Hussein will not be allowed to represent himself. If he strays from the judges' questions, they will cut him off with a warning. If he still does it, they will throw him out of the courtroom and continue the trial without him. TV broadcasts also are being delayed by at least 20 minutes so court officials can censor any incitement to violence or overtly political statements by Hussein.

"The Iraqi judges are in a difficult position," Quigley said. "They run the risk of having the trial appear unfair, or of giving Saddam a political platform."