The trouble-plagued trial of Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity is set to resume tomorrow amid conflicting reports about plans by the ousted Iraqi dictator to stage a protest hunger strike.
The former Iraqi dicator and his seven co-defendants all boycotted the last hearing on 2 February and it is still not clear if they are even going to attend the next session.
A member of the Amman-based legal team said today that the
eight men had decided to stage a hunger strike to protest at attempts to force them to appear in court.
But this was later denied by Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer Khalil
al-Dulaimi who told AFP: 'All the reports about a hunger strike by Saddam and his co-defendants are without foundation.'
All eight face the death penalty if convicted over the massacre of more than 140 Shiites after an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982.
They pleaded not guilty on the first day of the trial in October.
Saddam Hussein has boycotted the trial since he walked out in late January after a verbal sparring match with new Kurdish chief judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, who also ejected his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti from the court.
Al-Jaafari nominated by Shi'ites
Meanwhile, Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Islamist alliance has nominated incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaafari as candidate for prime minister in the first full-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Mr Jaafari won a United Iraqi Alliance vote after weeks of wrangling that has delayed the start of talks for the formation of a new Iraqi government nearly two months after elections.
