The Iraqi court trying Saddam Hussein postponed the verdict in the former leader's first trial and said Tuesday that the judges are considering the possibility of recalling some witnesses. The court is due to convene Oct. 16 for the first time since it adjourned July 27 to allow the five-judge panel to consider their verdicts against Saddam and seven co-defendants on charges of crimes against humanity for a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s. A verdict had been expected on that day, but court spokesman Raid Juhi said the Oct. 16 session ``will not be for the verdict. It's for the judges' review of the evidence.'' Juhi said he could not say when the verdict would be issued.
Saddam and his co-defendants face possible execution by hanging if found guilty in the charges, connected to a crackdown on Shiites in the town of Dujail launched in 1982. That has raised concerns that such a verdict could stoke the Sunni-led insurgency and rampant sectarian violence that has plagued the country. Minority Sunnis were dominant under Saddam but lost power to Shiites, who comprise some 60 percent of Iraq's population, after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and tensions between the Islamic sects have been on the rise.