[JURIST] Ramsey Clark [BBC profile], former US Attorney General and a member of the Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] defense team, predicted Thursday that the execution of the former Iraqi dictator would lead to "catastrophic violence" and "total, unmitigated chaos." During a press conference, Clark theorized that Sunni Muslims in Iraq would view an execution as revenge taken by the current Shiite-controlled government.

Hussein has been tried on crimes against humanity charges [JURIST report] stemming from a crackdown in the Iraqi town of Dujail. He is eligible for the death penalty in that case, but a verdict - initially scheduled to be delivered October 16 - has been delayed indefinitely [JURIST report] as judges take additional time to review the evidence. Hussein is also currently on trial on separate genocide charges [JURIST report] for the 1988 deaths of 180,000 Kurdish villagers in the so-called "Anfal" campaign [HRW backgrounder]. Proceedings in the Anfal trial are set to resume October 9. AP has more.