BAGHDAD, Oct 3: Iraq’s Special Tribunal announced on Monday that Saddam Hussein will go on trial on Oct 19. The court also unveiled the names of those to be tried alongside the ousted dictator over the 1982 massacre of 143 people in the Shia village of Dujail following an attempt on his life there.

They are ex-vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam’s 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, where the massacre happened.

The eight face the death penalty if found guilty.

A court source said on Sunday that five judges have been chosen for the much-anticipated trial.

Saddam’s Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi has been requesting a delay, claiming that the defence had not been informed about the trial date and had not given it full access to Saddam himself or full details of the charges against him.

The court appeared to rule out such a postponement, saying on its website that both the defence counsels and the accused were informed of the trial date in good time.

Defence lawyers were informed of the trial date “between September 18 and 25” and have been given until a fortnight before the trial, or this Wednesday, to submit a list of their witnesses and evidence, the tribunal added.

“They were informed about all obtained evidence in the Dujail case, and were provided copies of witness testimony,” a statement said.

The tribunal prosecutor “has on file signed confirmations that defence counsel received the above notification and its attachments on August 10”, the statement added.

The attorney representing one of the defendants, Mohammed Azawi Ali, could not be reached, and was replaced by a court-appointed defence lawyer.