BAGHDAD, Oct 2: Five judges have been chosen for the much-anticipated trial this month of toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein over the massacre of Shia villagers in 1982, a source close to the court said on Sunday.

“Five magistrates will try Saddam Hussein,” the Iraqi Special Tribunal source said without identifying the judges.

Saddam and seven of his former henchmen are due to go on trial on Oct 19 for the killing of 143 Shias in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad in 1982, following an attempt on his life there.

The eight face the death penalty if found guilty.

Asked about the possibility of a postponement as demanded by Saddam’s defence lawyer, the source said: “That depends entirely on the judges. The tribunal is totally independent.”

He said the court would follow legal Iraqi procedures for the trial, the first major case involving figures in Saddam’s ousted regime.

Saddam’s Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi has requested a delay, claiming that his client’s rights have been seriously violated throughout the legal process.

“We have not been duly informed about any certain date for a trial,” Dulaimi said last month.

“The defence has not been enabled to review any files of the charges or even any paper of investigation, despite the fact that we have made many and repeated requests to this effect,” he said.

However, another tribunal source said last month that Dulaimi had been given access to all prosecution documents and to his client whenever he requested.

“His lawyers can bring international experts, (Saddam) can seek to have other people to meet him, or he can bring other lawyers. No one who Saddam recognises as his attorney has been denied access,” the source added.

Among those who will face the court along with Saddam are former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, his half-brother and former intelligence boss Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan and a former deputy chief in Saddam’s cabinet, Awad Ahmad al-Bandar.

The other four — Abdullah Khadem Ruweid, Mezhar Abdullah Ruweid, Ali Daeh and Mohammed Azzam al-Ali — are former ruling Baath party officials responsible for the Dujail area.

Saddam, 68, who also faces possible trial over the brutal oppression of about 180,000 Kurds in the late 1980s, has been in US custody since his capture by US-led forces in December 2003.

Iraq’s Kurdish President Jalal Talabani said last month that Saddam had confessed to some of his crimes when interrogated by an investigating judge but this was denied by members of his Jordan-based defence team.

One of Saddam’s nephews, Aymen Sabawi, was last month sentenced to life behind bars for making bombs and financing rebel activities in the violence-ravaged country.

The most senior former regime stalwart still on the run is Ezzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam’s former deputy and vice president of the former ruling Revolutionary Command Council.—AFP