Saddam Hussein's defence team complained yesterday it would not have enough time to prepare for his trial after the government set the date for the start of proceedings.
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein answers questions during an investigative session conducted by the Iraqi Special Tribunal on Thursday, July 28, 2005, in Baghdad
A legal adviser to Saddam's family, Abdel-Haq Alani, said that starting the trial next month would "undercut the defence capability to review the case."
He was reacting to an announcement by the chief government spokesman, Laith Kubba, that Saddam and seven former henchmen would be tried on October 19th over the 1982 massacre of 143 Shia Muslims in Dujail, a town north of Baghdad.
Mr Alani said the defence had received no official notice about the date, but complained that if October 19th was the start, it would not leave enough time to prepare.
"How can one review thousands and thousands of pages in just a matter of a few days?" he said. "This court has been deliberating with the evidence for the past year, but it has been keeping it away from the defence, which is not fair."
The first trial of Saddam and key lieutenants will begin just days after the October 15 national referendum on Iraq's constitution.
A legal adviser to Saddam's family, Abdel-Haq Alani
Trying Saddam so soon after the referendum could further inflame sectarian tensions among Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs, however, many of whom oppose the draft charter.
Rather than lump all charges against Saddam into one mammoth, time-consuming trial, Iraqi authorities have opted for a series of cases focusing on specific atrocities.
Iraq's Shia- and Kurdish-dominated government is convinced that speedy trials for Saddam will expose crimes of his regime and undercut support for him within the Sunni-dominated insurgency.
If convicted, Saddam and the others could receive the death penalty.
AP