Nature may provide an escape route for Saddam

Saddam Hussein’s trials against humanity are coming thick and fast. Close on the heels of his first trial over the killing of 148 Shi'ite men from Dujail, he is now facing his second case.

This time around it is for genocide against Kurds in a 1988 military offensive codenamed Anfal - the Spoils of War - after the title of a chapter of the Koran.

A verdict in the Dujail trial is expected in October and the former dictator faces the death penalty in both cases.

However the 69-year-old former leader might not face any punishment - neither the gallows nor the firing squad.

The scheduling of a dozen other trials could delay any execution for years, raising the possibility Saddam may just die in jail.