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The ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's lawyers Sunday filed a formal appeal against the death sentence handed down to Saddam and two of his senior aids by the Iraqi High Tribunal over the Dujail case.

The defense had been given until tomorrow to submit their appeals. The case is already with the appeals court, which will determine whether the hangings should be carried out. Meanwhile, Saddam's trials continue as he faces charges of committing genocide against Kurds.

"Lawyers for Saddam Hussein and two others sentenced to death came to the court today and presented their appeals," chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said.

He said he had witnessed the handing over of the documents, although Saddam's chief lawyer said it had not yet happened.

Saddam was sentenced to hang a month ago for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail after he escaped assassination there in 1982.

His half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former judge Awad al-Bander also received the death penalty for their roles in the killing, torturing and deporting of hundreds of Dujaili citizens.

The nine-judge Appellate Chamber, with power to amend both the verdict and the sentence, has unlimited time to make a ruling, but should the appeal fail, then the Iraqi High Tribunal rules say the execution must follow a final decision within 30 days.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a member of the Shi'ite majority persecuted under Saddam's Sunni minority rule, has expressed his hopes of seeing the execution carried out this year. Legal experts, however, have said appeals could yet take months with ambiguity remaining on what constitutes a "final decision."

The tribunal has still to make public its reasoning for the November 5 death sentences, despite promises to publish them on its website. The lengthy ruling is eagerly awaited by international jurists keen to assess how the court performed.

In a comprehensive report last month, New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned the verdict as unsound, pointing out that the court had been guilty of so many shortcomings that a fair trial had been impossible.

It said the court lacked the expertise for such a complex trial, had failed to give the defense advance notice of key documents, while statements by government officials undermined both its independence and impartiality.

UN human rights experts also identified "serious procedural shortcomings" and called on Iraq not to carry out the death sentences. They added Saddam was not given enough time to prepare his defense and was allowed only restricted access to his lawyers.

(China Daily December 4, 2006)