Saddam Hussein is likely to face his second trial over the massacre of Kurds, unless he is sentenced to death at the end of his first case, a tribunal source said on Thursday.
"The case is progressing well," said the source. The investigating judge has reportedly gathered very important evidence" such as audiotapes and clues found in mass graves.
Iraq's Kurdish President Jalal Talabani said recently that Saddam had "confessed" to some of his alleged crimes and deserves to die "100 times".
The confessions were related to orders by Saddam concerning the 1987-88 Anfal massacre where over 180,000 are reported to have been killed.
Saddam and seven former aides are to go on trial on October 19 over the 1982 killing of 143 Shiite Muslims after an attempt on his life in the village of Dujail.
If they are condemned to death "the sentence must be carried out 30 days after the exhaustion of all appeals," the source said.
Asked if it were possible Saddam could face the hangman immediately after all appeals are exhausted, the source said: "Certainly, it's a possibility but it is hard to predict."
