Saddam trial verdict may be delayed again

Breitbart News is reporting that the verdict in Saddam Hussein’s trial, which was scheduled to be delivered on November 5th – just before the mid-term elections – may be delayed.

The chief prosecutor at the court trying ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity has said that the verdict, due in seven days, could be delayed again by up to two weeks.

Two weeks ago the Iraqi High Tribunal delayed the judgement in the trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants for ordering the deaths of 148 Shiite villagers from the village of Dujail until at least November 5.

But chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi told AFP: "There are checks which still have to be completed.

"If the judicial body overseeing these checks has not finished by November 5, I expect the court to delay its next hearing by one or two weeks before announcing the verdict," he added on Sunday.

US officials close to the court have said the Iraqi panel of judges is working carefully on a lengthy judgement against Saddam designed to withstand both an expected appeal and the scrutiny of international legal experts.

A high Bu$h maladministration stated, on conditions of anonymity because he has a wife and children, that reports of Mr Bu$h falling on the floor and chewing a carpet in rage are “exaggerated.”

There have been suggestions that Prime Minster Maliki was threatened asked in his videoconference with Mr Bu$h to keep to the schedule that was dictated.