Saddam due in court Thursday

Iraqis and the world will get their first glimpse of Saddam Hussein since his capture in December when he and 11 of his top lieutenants are brought to court Thursday to face war crimes charges.

Already there are pretrial negotiations over permitting Saddam's foreign legal team to work in Iraq, whether to televise the proceedings and whether to reinstate the harshest penalty in Iraq's legal code: hanging by the neck until dead.

Iraq will take legal custody of Saddam from the U.S. Army on Wednesday and the former dictator is to make his first court appearance Thursday, where he will be informed of the charges in his arrest warrant, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced Tuesday.

Salem Chalabi, director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal that will try Saddam, said Thursday's appearance at the tribunal, housed in a courthouse with a prominent clock tower inside Baghdad's sealed-off Green Zone, is expected to be filmed for public release.

The pictures would offer the first bit of video since Saddam's Dec. 13 capture by U.S. soldiers, when a clip showed the bushy-bearded leader opening his mouth for a dental examination.

Upon their arraignment, the dozen U.S. military detainees will be given the status of Iraqi criminal suspects, which gives them the right to attorneys or appointed counsel, Chalabi said.

The first batch of Saddam's lieutenants to face the tribunal include Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali"; former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan; former deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz; and two of Saddam's half brothers.

The moves to try Saddam are a sign of Iraqis taking matters into their own hands after U.S. administrators turned over power Monday ¡ª though some 160,000 U.S.-led foreign troops remain to protect Allawi's government from a relentless insurgency.

Violence persisted Tuesday, when a roadside bomb in Baghdad killed three Marines and wounded a fourth. Four Iraqis ¡ª including police and civilians ¡ª were killed in other attacks around the country.

Allawi said he requested that coalition forces keep Saddam and other top prisoners in a U.S. lockup "until correction services are fully capable of providing for their safety" and secure detention.

Source: Agencies