Saddam Hussein’s defence team has urged a delay of his possible death sentence and said the ousted Iraqi leader believed today’s expected verdict was timed to boost President George Bush before US mid-term elections.

Saddam’s lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi repeated warnings that a death sentence against his client - which would come before Tuesday’s US Congressional elections at a time when Bush faces mounting criticism over the Iraq war - would plunge the region into wider bloodshed.

“We have requested at least a two-month adjournment to allow us to complete our presentations in the case in which our defence rights have been violated and in which our clients have been denied full legal defence,” he said. US officials deny that Washington has any say over the timing of the verdict or the court’s decisions, saying the American role was limited to logistics and security. (more…)

This morning on ABC, George Stephanopoulos asked Vice President Cheney if he would testify before Congress if he was subpoenaed. Cheney said “probably not in the sense at that vice president and president and constitutional officers don’t appear before the Congress.”

Stephanopoulos noted that President Gerald Ford testified before Congress.

• Watch video

Transcript: (more…)