The trial of Saddam Hussein

摘要

Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime min-1 ister, has said he expects Saddam Hussein's trial to begin this month-or at least before the general election due in January. But American officials consider such a timetable a "remote" possibility, at best. They reckon there is little chance of formal charges being brought against Mr Hussein until next year, with a trial unlikely to begin for several months after that, perhaps not until 2006. Still, the countdown has begun, with the likelihood, if he is convicted, of a firing squad at the end of it.