Witnesses to appear defending Saddam

Separately, prosecutors said they had completed preparing a second trial, for genocide against the Kurds, and had passed it to the court. Hearings could start within a couple of months.

Saddam, 69, who faces a death sentence if found guilty of crimes against humanity in the first trial, is not expected to take the stand when witnesses for a local Baath party official begin testifying in the heavily fortified Baghdad courtroom, defence counsel said.